Author's Note: Sorry it's taken me so long to produce this chapter. I've been consumed by homework in my algebra course, and I've not had much free time. Thanks for being patient.

Turnabout Titan

Chapter Three: Trial Day One

Regina Simmons had never once expected to testify against Robin of the Teen Titans. In a way, it was thanks to Robin that she even held the position of detective; her predecessor was one of the greatest detectives on the force, and someone Regina was proud to call a mentor…

Until the day that Robin revealed that he had been involved in a bribery scandal. Shortly after the Titans' first battle against a criminal mastermind known as Slade, Robin began to suspect corruption in the JCPD, and corruption he found. And psychologically, Regina knew her mentor was guilty. But in her heart, she couldn't help feel a tiny tinge of satisfaction in testifying against Robin. She hated herself for it, but it had to happen. The evidence was pretty clear that, despite all he had done for the city in the past, Robin was now a murderer.

"Please, begin your testimony," said the British Judge.

Regina nodded, took a deep breath, and began. "The victim's body was found at approximately 4:30 this morning. The murder took place on the roof of a restaurant known as the Obstinate Nickel, across the street from the Time Warp Theatre."

"Hold it!" Called the voice of Phoenix Wright. Regina looked up to see the attorney tapping on his desk, apparently in deep thought.

"Yes, Mr. Wright?" Regina asked.

"Who found the victim's body?"

Regina had expected that question. "A tenant at a nearby apartment. There is a large apartment complex that wraps around the northern and western sides of the Obstinate Nickel in the shape of an L, and the roof of the restaurant is visible from the upper floors of that building. Naturally, it would be disconcerting to look out one's window and see a corpse lying on a building's roof."

Wright nodded. "Alright, continue."

"The victim, Mr. Frank Newitt, lived in an apartment building adjacent to the restaurant, and likely climbed out of his window onto the roof of the restaurant before he was attacked. The body was found propped up against a climate control unit on the roof of the restaurant, and the cause of death was blood loss due to being stabbed in through the heart by a cylindrical object."

"Hold it!"

"Yes, Mr. Wright?"

"A 'cylindrical' object? Wouldn't it take a considerable amount of force to ram a cylindrical object through a person's chest?"

Regina nodded. "Yes, but given the narrow diameter of the object in question, it's conceivable that a human, even without any meta-human powers, could produce enough force to accomplish this."

The detective looked up from her notes and gasped when she realized that Wright was sweating profusely, a worried expression all over his face. This guy clearly is not a professional. I bet he's never won a case in his life.

"Anyway," she continued. "The time of death was determined to be between 11:30 PM and 12:30 AM." With that, Detective Simmons reached into her court record and removed several copies of the Autopsy Report, distributing them to all parties involved.

"And now, I have the murder weapon."

Phoenix Wright gulped. He'd heard Robin say the murder weapon belonged to him, but seeing the detective pull out a five-foot long metal staff, the end of which was covered in the victim's coagulated blood, made him nervous.

"Please tell us about the murder weapon," said Franziska von Karma.

"The murder weapon was brought to the precinct by Raven and Cyborg of the Teen Titans, Your Honor." Regina held the 'business end' up for the Judge to view. "As you can all clearly see, the end of the staff is covered in blood. Testing has confirmed that the blood belonged to Frank Newitt. The only finger prints found on the weapon were those of the victim, which is understandable given that Robin, like most superheroes, tends to wear gloves."

Wright stood up and looked across at Franziska. She didn't return his gaze, but rather was looking down at her court record files, smiling savagely. "Well, we've at least clearly established one thing."

"I see—what is that?" asked the Judge.

"That the victim was murdered with a metal staff." Wright spoke evenly, trying to avoid coming across sarcastic or snarky. "However, none of this proves that my client was the one who committed the murder."

Von Karma looked up and smiled broadly. "Foolish fool. You foolishly open your mouth and emit foolish words before thinking your foolish statements through!"

CRACK! Another lash of her whip struck out, this time leaving a red mark across Wright's forehead.

"I would not have come in here to this courtroom and proceeded with this trial without proof that your client is guilty, Mr. Phoenix Wright."

I still hate it when she uses my full name like that. Wright sat down, and looked over at Maya. "Hand me my water, please."

"Sure thing, Nick," replied the young woman. She handed him a bottle, and Wright took a swig before standing back up.

"Okay, then who are you going to call to the stand now?" He took another swig of water.

"I shall call someone who was an eye-witness to the murder to the stand."

"WHAT!?!?!?!?" Wright blurted, spewing his water all over his desk.

"You heard me correctly, Mr. Phoenix Wright. Someone who saw what happened with his own eyes. It is truly tragic."

Phoenix raised an eyebrow when he saw a tear fall from Franziska's eye. "Huh.. What's tragic?" She's got to be faking this! Franziska von Karma would never cry…

"The witness is but a mere child. And up until last night, he was a huge fan of this foolishly foolish 'Robin' character. Now, his dreams are crushed."

CRASH BOOM BAM SMASH!

Von Karma was suddenly perky—in her typically evil manner—again. "Ah, here he comes now."

"I don't wanna do this!" a pre-pubescent voice shouted as young boy took the witness stand. "Robin was my hero. I better get a book deal if I have to destroy the guy."

The kid was clearly distraught, red faced with rage and sadness. Though there was still a childish selfishness in his eyes. Wright feared the testimony he would bring to bear in the courtroom.

The Judge slammed his gavel against his desk. "Alright, order in the court, please. Witness, please state your name and occupation."

"Well, my name is Ed Bloominflaur, yer honor, but I have no idea what an 'occupation' is."

The Judge goggled a bit, but then nodded. "Yes, I see. You are a bit too young to have one yet. You are a student at Murakami Primary School, I believe."

"That's right. I guess an 'occupation' is something I get during puberty then," Eddie said.

"Not quite." Von Karma's voice silenced the boy. "Now, give us your testimony. What did you see the night of the murder?"

"It was amazing!" Ed blurted. "I mean, I was lying in my bed, and suddenly I heard a loud crash. So I looked out the window, and there was—Robin! And I was standing over top of the Frank guy, holding out this bo-staff."

"HOLD IT!" Wright cried. "Wait a minute, wait… did you just say you were standing over the victim?"

Ed goggled. "Um? What? Of course not! I was in my room…"

Von Karma cracked her whip onto Wright's table, barely missing his wrist. "Foolish fool. Clearly my witness is projecting himself onto the action. Remember, Robin was this boy's hero—before last night's tragic events."

Wright frowned. The way Franziska is smiling, I doubt she considers anything at all about last night a tragedy.

Ed Bloominflaur regained his composure and nodded. "Yeah, that's it." He gave a nervous chuckle and shrugged. "I can get a little carried away when I'm tellin' a story."

"Do not let it happen again," said Franziska.

Wright glanced over at Maya. "You think I should press him farther?"

"I dunno," Maya said. "When I get Steel Samurai Euphoria, sometimes I forget I'm not him myself."

Wright facevaulted and fell back into his chair. "The defense rests for now, Your Honor."

Edward nodded, then continued. "Anyway, I took a picture of him standing there, and then—he stabbed the guy in the chest with the bo. I thought it was a bad guy at first, so I took another picture as a souvenir. When I showed them to my daddy the next morning, he told me I had to give them to the cops."

"Photos? As in, more than one?" Wright asked, suddenly deeply troubled… Robin only told me about one photo. If he took more than one, it could break this case.

"This is news!" the judge said with a gasp. "Miss von Karma, please submit this photo into the court record. This is very damning evidence!"

Franziska smiled, and bowed. "Your Honor, I assure you the photo is the least of the worries our so-called Boy Wonder has in-store. Nevertheless, a von Karma is perfect, and will comply."

And so she did. Copies of a photo were distributed to the Judge and Wright, and Phoenix almost had a heart attack when he saw their contents.

It was Robin, alright, standing over the body of Frank Newitt, both facing south and lit up from the west—the flash of the camera, Phoenix figured. The left side of the defendant, and the bo-staff itself, were bathed in the red light of the clock on the Time Warp Theatre, and it was impossible to see in the low-resolution photo if any blood had already been shed.

Wright's stomach sank as low as it would go.

"Don't give up yet," came a familiar voice from right beside him…

And it wasn't Maya's voice. Wright turned to see that his apprentice was now six feet tall, her cleavage bursting out of her purple robes. There was no more mousiness, only beauty, because it was no longer Maya Fey in that chair, but her older, dearly departed sister.

"Mia!" Wright gasped. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Maya summoned me when she saw the photo," Mia said. "I spoke to Frank Newitt himself before he was taken to the other side of the Door."

"The Door?" Wright asked.

"Never mind. Wright," Mia looked down at the photo. "Robin didn't kill this man, but you're going to need to stall this trial. The investigation isn't over. You already have one critical piece of evidence. The rest is up to you. Think about it in a different way. Don't try and prove Robin didn't commit the murder yet—instead, raise reasonable doubt that he did. Force the trial to last till tomorrow. There's one option you haven't tried yet—something you rarely ever do. Do it."

"Thanks for the usual cryptic help," Wright deadpanned.

The judge smashed his gavel down against his table. "Well, it seems that this case is quite clear… As much as it pains me to admit it, our hero has become a murderer. I will pronounce a verdict right now, if there is nothing more the defense has to say."

"What about the other photo?" Ed asked… then he had a whip smack him across the face.

"Foolish boy," Franziska said. "You would do well not to speak out of turn."

"He raises a good point," the judge said. "The other photo, the one of the actual moment of the murder—where is it?"

"Unfortunately," Franziska said with a sigh, "our young photographer didn't have the flash on when the second photo was taken. This photo more clearly demonstrates the guilt of the defendant, if only because it is obvious that it is indeed him."

"Nevertheless, I would like to see the photo."

"Unfortunately, Your Honor—" Franziska bowed—"I left it at the District Attorney's office, as I did not see it as relevant to the case."

Wright narrowed his eyes at her. What is she trying to pull this time.

The judge frowned, but then shook his head. "Very well. I believe we have more than enough to establish the defendant's guilt. If the defense has nothing else to say…"

Wright sat back, staring across the way at the defendant, holding the photo in his hands. He dropped it and began thumbing through the pages Raven had given him, but still nothing clicked…. A bunch of dates for space-traffic in Earth's star system—but it was all for September, October, and November—none of it in this month… He didn't see the relevance.

"I…" Wright glanced at Robin, and Robin stood up. "My client would like to speak… I think."

"I would like to take the stand," Robin said. "I want to tell my version of the story, not some lie concocted by a twelve year old kid."

The judge glanced down at von Karma. "Does the prosecution have any problems with this?"

"Of course not," Franziska said. "My case is perfect. No child in a brightly colored bird costume is going to destroy it."

Robin sat down in the witness' chair, casting a glance at von Karma. "Your confidence in me is overwhelming," he spat.

"Please, stop insulting the prosecution and testify," the Judge said. Robin let the fact she had insulted him first slide, and began.

"The night of the murder—last night—I had been tracking a series of cars being stolen for a chop shop. I found them, busted them up, and started to leave, when I noticed my staff was missing."

"You were sure you didn't just forget it?" Von Karma said.

Robin just glared at her, his only response. "I ran outside and saw someone who I thought may have been up to six feet tall driving away on a motorcycle. I got on my own bike and followed him, and he led me into an alley."

"You followed a stranger into an alley? Not very smart," von Karma said.

"He stole something from me. I wanted to know why."

"Fair enough," von Karma said.

"When I went in, I saw the bike discarded and crashed into a wall." Robin leaned back. "I thought I'd lost his trail, until I heard a crash on a rooftop across the street. I used my grapple gun to get up onto the roof, and found the victim."

"And then you killed him," von Karma said casually.

Robin's eyes narrowed dangerously. "He was already dead when I got there, and the murder weapon was my own staff. So I panicked and pulled the staff out of his chest. At that point, there was a flash. I looked up to see the kid—Bloominflaur—aiming a camera at me. At that point, I ran."

"You ran? What did you run for? If you did not commit the murder—"

"With all due respect, Miss von Karma, I doubt you've ever been framed for murder. I knew it was a set up as soon as I found that man impaled on my staff. And in retrospect, I probably could have handled it better. But this is the truth."

The whip cracked out and smacked Robin across the face, drawing a small grunt of pain.

Robin rubbed his face where the whip had struck and growled. "Do not do that again."

She ignored him. "Whether you speak truly or not, young 'hero' is up to this court to decide." Her German accent somehow made the words even more insulting.

The Judge once again struck with his gavel. "Indeed, and though you speak convincingly, Occam's Razor dictates that the simplest explanation is the most likely one."

"This is a murder trial!" Robin snapped. "If you pronounce me guilty now, without having proved beyond any reasonable doubt that I committed this crime, then you've done a disservice to your post."

"I'm sorry, son, but the evidence is clear," the Judge raised said. "This court finds the defendant, Mr. Robin of the Teen Titans…" Robin gulped, and began to grow faint… "OBJECTION!"

All heads in the courtroom turned to Phoenix Wright, who was now standing, leaning over his desk with his hands firmly pressing down on it, supporting all his weight as he glared dangerously at von Karma.

"You may speak, Mr. Wright."

"Your Honor, we've proven that Robin has the means and the opportunity, but we've left out one very important facet. Robin has no motive to kill the defendant! According to the profile I was given by the prosecution, Frank Newitt was a simple journeyman working at a paper factory. He has no criminal record—in fact, he has no record of anything at all in Jump City prior to the year 2003. What could possibly motivate the city's premier hero to kill this guy?"

Phoenix was smiling broadly from ear to ear, and let Franziska see it. This is what was Mia trying to tell me. We know he could have done it, but why would Robin do something like this…? There's no logic to it. All murders have a motive, even if it's simple sadism.

Unfortunately, when Wright began to focus, he noticed that von Karma did not looked worried. In fact, she was smiling herself.

"This is indeed a qualm," the British Judge said. "But the self-satisfaction evident on the face of the prosecutor may make it a moot point. Sorry ol' chap."

"I was wondering when you would fall into my trap, Mr. Phoenix Wright." Von Karma licked her lips and reached into her court record once again. "Please behold, a set of computer records taken from the defendant's very own computer by the police."

"Oh dear…" Wright said…

"No," Mia said. "Don't worry. She thinks she trapped you, Wright. But really, you trapped her, because you forced her to bring up evidence—evidence that can be contradicted, unlike the innuendo she was using up till this point."

"You think I can debunk this?" Nick goggled, glancing at her.

"Find out what it is, first," Mia said. "Then go for it."

"The dead woman thinks too highly of you, Mr. Phoenix Wright." Von Karma distributed copies of the evidence to him and the Judge. "This evidence indicates that Robin was, in fact, tracking the defendant's every move."

"But why?" Wright blurted.

"Quit simple," said von Karma. "The victim's computer also contained some very incriminating evidence—incriminating for your client, that is. Files on his computer show that the so-called paper salesman Frank Newitt actually knew that the secret identity 'Robin' is, in reality, a young man… named Timothy Drake."

Silence fell throughout the courtroom at first, them people in the audience began to murmur. "Who is Timothy Drake?" Wright asked after a moment.

"None other than the adopted son of one Bruce Wayne, whom I believe needs no introduction. Philanthropy, wild sexual escapades, inheriting billions of dollars the night his parents were murdered. But what if there was more? What if it were revealed that Robin was Bruce Wayne's son?"

Wright's heart began to sink.

Franziska continued, her sinister smirk not diminishing. "What if it were revealed that Bruce Wayne is more than meets the eye—if he is indeed the mysterious vigilante known as the Batman. That would destroy many other masked heroes that you Americans find so fascinating. Of course Robin had a motive—his motive for murder was simply this—to protect his identity, and thereby the identities of his associates." She turned to regard Robin. "What do you have to say about this? Have you ever heard the name Timothy Drake before?"

Robin narrowed his eyes. "I am not him, but the name…I have heard it before." His stony face was impossible to read behind that mask.

A cacophony of gasps, then the courtroom sat in stunned silence, so thick you could hear the Atom hit the ground in his smallest form, or the sound of one hand clapping.

Finally, Wright muttered. "She really did have a perfect case."

THWACK

Nick recoiled from the blow, glancing to his right to see Mia glaring at him from behind Maya's eyes. "Don't give up yet, Wright. She's used evidence, and I know Robin is innocent. Ergo, it must be forged evidence. Think about it. Ask questions."

Wright looked over the files; both what was on Robin's computer and what was on Newitt's looked authentic enough. Finally, Nick nodded. "Alright. What about the dates on the files?"

The Judge looked curious. Grew up before the information age, after all.

So he began to explain. "Anyone could have forged documents and placed them on the respective computers—anyone with enough skill. But the files would still have the dates they were created written somewhere on them. When were they made?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Phoenix Wright." Von Karma glanced at Detective Simmons. "The detective had the files checked, and all of them were created well before this murder occurred. Robin's own profile for Mr. Newitt was created on the 8th of October, 2008."

"This year?" Wright asked.

"Yes, but more than two months ago," she said. "More than enough time to plan this atrocity."

You seem so sympathetic, Wright thought.

"Now's your chance, Phoenix." Mia said. "Find the flaw in the evidence. It should be obvious."

Wright cringed. "Yeah… Obvious." He began thumbing through the files. The autopsy report didn't help him any… the flight schedule still seemed irrelevant. The photo only incriminated Robin. So what did he need?

Then, it hit him… He thumbed towards the point in the file where he knew he's sent it…

Here it is! Near the top of the flight list, a simple line that read: TEEN TITANS – OUTBOUND in the T-SHIP..

He stood up and presented the evidence to the court, and explained what it was. Wright read the line out loud to the courtroom. "Passengers: Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, and Ragnarök—and this is the important part—Departure Date: October 7th, 2008."

For the first time all day, Franziska looked almost worried.

Nick continued. "Then, near the bottom, their return date. Same crew list, same ship—October 10th, 2008."

Now von Karma was definitely worried.

"Your Honor," Wright said. "I submit to you that Robin could not have created that file on October 8th, 2008—because he wasn't even on the planet at the time!"

Nick slammed his hands down on his desk for effect, and it was almost as though the sound waves were physically painful to von Karma, as she jerked back, recoiling from the sting. Wright's cell phone music began blaring loudly in his head—it was sort of his personal anthem, in his own mind.

The court erupted into a fit of murmurs, and the Judge had to use his gavel to silence them. "This is an alarming development indeed! If this evidence checks out, then Mr. Wright's earlier point about the defendant not having a motive stands. Can the prosecution produce any evidence that counters this?"

Through gritted teeth, von Karma replied. "No, Your Honor. Not at the moment."

The Judge nodded. "In that case, with the possibility of forged evidence having tainted the facts of the matter, I have decided to end today's' proceedings and continue tomorrow after further investigation."

Robin, Phoenix, and all of the Titans breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief.

Mia patted Nick on the back. "I knew you could do this," she said. "Wright, always remember that when forged evidence is used in court, the real facts of the case should refute it."

The Judge looked down from his bench, then struck one last time with his gavel.

"This court is adjourned."