Turnabout Titan
Chapter Four: Illegal Evidence

Robin sat back in his chair and sighed. "There aren't many ways that could have gone worse."

"Chill out, dude," said Cyborg. "We got the trial suspended another day, and you didn't have to unmask."

"It doesn't matter," Robin said, glancing up at Cyborg. Vic immediately and intuitively understood that he didn't want to indicate to Phoenix Wright that von Karma had been right about who he and Batman were. Robin continued. "If they think they've discovered who I am, they'll attack me anyway. If they think they know Batman is Bruce Wayne, they'll attack Mr. Wayne anyway."

Robin shot a glance at Wright. "I know of one person other than Wayne himself that knows what happened to Tim Drake."

"Then you aren't him?" Wright asked, stroking his chin.

"Drake is dead," Robin replied evenly. "And the only person I know of who can prove that is Dr. Leslie Thompkins of Gotham City."

"I can look into that," Raven said somberly.

Cyborg glanced at her, and saw something in her violet eyes that might have indicated some unspoken understanding with Robin, but he let it slide. Robin was going to have some woman that Vic had never heard of give false testimony—all in order to protect Batman and his 'family'…

Starfire smiled weakly at Robin. "It is okay. We will find a way to win this case. I refuse to believe you are capable of such a horrible crime, just as I refused to believe you murdered the Saiko-Tec in Tokyo."

Yin slithered forward and sprang up in between Cyborg and Nick. "By the way, if you need proof that Batman isn't Bruce Wayne, I've definitely got that in spades. I used to think that myself, but then I found some photos of him and Wayne together. Now I think that Batman is a doctor named Thomas Elliot, but Robin says no. I don't care, I'll figure it out eventually. But for now, I can help prove who he's not."

Raven and Cyborg exchanged a knowing glance. Yin had been trying to figure out who Batman was for years, and he hadn't joined the Titans yet when the rest of the team had learned the secret.

Robin let him keep on believing Batman was Thomas Elliot. It humored him, for some strange reason.

About that time, Beast Boy walked in accompanied by Maya and Pearl Fey. The younger girl was sipping on a huge chocolate milk shake.

"Yummy!" she said, smiling brightly.

Robin cleared his throat. "At the risk of sounding like Fred Jones from Scooby Doo, I'm going to have to ask you all to split up. Yin has told me that it is acceptable, if frowned upon, for Turnabout Courtroom lawyers to do their own investigating. I'd like to ask Wright, Beast Boy, and Ragnarök—wherever he is—to look up the crime scene."

"That shouldn't be too hard," Beast Boy said. "It's just a couple of apartments and a rooftop."

"And I'm right here," Ragnarök said, scooting out from behind Cyborg.

Robin turned to Vic. "Cyborg and Yin, head to the tower and see if you can find anything more about the fake files I was supposedly tracking the victim with." Vic gave him a thumbs up.

The Boy Wonder glanced in the direction of Starfire and Raven. "I want you two and Maya to see if you can figure out more about the victim—his former associates, anybody who would want to do him in."

Maya gasped. "M—me?! What good would I be in this investigation? And I'd rather stay with Nick."

"You're a spirit medium, right?" Robin asked. "So is Pearl."

"Um.. yes… Though Pearly has a lot more power than I do."

"But we're more likely to find leads if we split the two of you up," Robin said. "That was Raven's suggestion, so you'll have to ask her about the details."

Raven gave a faint smirk towards Maya. "It's okay. We understand you're not used to superhero work."

"I'm a huge fan of superheroes—" Maya began as a retort—"But usually just… not this kind of heroes…"

"What kind then?" Yin asked, arching a rubbery eyebrow.

"Well, I like the Steel Samurai." Maya beamed, suddenly enthusiastic. "I'm so glad Mr. Will Powers got his job back after the Nickel Samurai season ended. He's such a nice man."

Yin goggled. "Holy frell! You know Will Powers?"

Maya nodded. Cyborg could sense her heart racing at the idea of a kindred spirit.

Suddenly the two of them threw their hands up and pointed at the sky, and then they burst out together: "FOR GREAT JUSTICE!"

"And all our base are belong to you," Raven deadpanned.

"Justice will come when whoever is framing me is revealed," Robin muttered. "Ragnarök, and Raven. I need to see you two alone before you leave here."

Cyborg glanced back at the two, considering eavesdropping on their conversation, but he decided against it.

"Man'o'man." Phoenix gave a loud, short laugh as he and Cyborg stepped out of the detention center. "He pretty much just bossed us around in there. Which I don't mind. Usually I'm at a loss for what to look for next. It's just, I've never seen a guy accused of murder so on top of things."

"Heh," Cyborg smiled broadly at him. "That's 'cause you never worked with Batman's sidekick before."

Back at the Tower, the Titans geared up and prepared to accomplish their assigned tasks. Cyborg and Yin sat at two opposing terminals on the Ops Room computer, digging through the endless streams of data for some sort of clue.

"Hey, Cyborg," Beast Boy called from in front of the elevator that led down to the Titans' garage. "You mind if we take the T-Car? Because I really doubt that me, Rag, and Mr. Wright are all going to fit on my B-ped." Beast Boy refered to the moped that he had 'earned' after working the lunch shift at a fast food restaurant owned by alien cow-snatchers.

"Fine," Cyborg said. "Given that this is an emergency, you can take the T-Car this once—but only if Phoenix drives it!"

Wright laughed nervously. "Actually, Victor, I.. don't have a driver's license."

Cyborg's head spun 135 degrees in half a second to look at Wright—and make no mistake, a head turn of that many radians unnerved the lawyer—with his human eye wide. "What!?"

Pearl, who had opted to go with Phoenix rather than stay with Yin and Cyborg, (who she described as 'scary') nodded. "Mr. Nick makes Maya drive him around now. And before that we always had to pay creepy ethnic stereotypes in yellow cars to take us places."

Yin stifled a laugh.

"She means Taxis," Wright muttered.

"Sweet!" Beast Boy cried. "That means I get to drive!"

"Wait, why don't I get to drive?" Ragnarök asked.

Beast Boy smirked. "Because you're still fifteen. And technically an illegal alien from another universe." He reached over to the elevator call button, enjoying the look of worry on Cyborg's face as they descended into the garage.

"Are we ready to go?" Maya asked Starfire as the Tamaranian princess hovered closer to her atop the roof of Titans' Tower.

"Not quite yet, Friend Maya. We must await Raven before we take our heads out."

Maya goggled at her.

"Oh, I mean.. before we 'head out'?" Starfire said, enunciating more slowly.

Suddenly, a circle of dark energy appeared on the roof of the Tower and Raven hovered up through it. "Starfire learned the basics of English in an instant, but she still has trouble with idioms sometimes," Raven explained.

"I see!" Maya cried happily, the unexpected loudness jarring Raven's calm demeanor.

"If we have no further questions, we shall be off, then!" Starfire clasped her lavender-gloved hand around Maya's wrist.

"Wait!" Maya gasped. "I'm afraid of heights. I can't fly with you just dangling me around. What if you drop me?"

"It's okay," Raven said. "By the way, I saw you using the Kurain Spirit Channeling technique today. There's something I need to explain to you about that."

Maya goggled. "Explain!? Did I do something wrong? My sister did show up, didn't she?"

"So it was your sister?" Raven's voice betrayed her interest in the subject, her own area of expertise. "That explains how you summoned her so easily."

Maya smiled, but there was a sadness in the smile. "My sis was great, you know. She was killed while working a case against a guy named Redd White, and I ended up getting set up for the murder." Maya took in a breath. She was trying to calm a sudden dizziness she'd begun feeling, staring up at the cloudless December sky.

Raven closed her eyes briefly, then glanced over at Starfire. Then she turned back to the young Spirit Medium. "Okay, Maya. I want you to look down; slowly. Don't be surprised by what you see."

"Huh?" Maya asked, tilting her head downward…

And gasping as a panorama of Jump City harbor stretched out below her; they had to be at least three hundred feet above the tower. Maya saw her feet on a small platform of black energy, and a chill ran up her spine…

"We-we're flying!" Maya's breath caught when she realized how high up they were; she thought of flailing her arms for balance, but suddenly realized she couldn't move them at all.

"It's okay, Maya," Raven said. "I just needed to get your mind off heights. We don't have a lot of time, and I didn't want to argue with you. This isn't so bad, is it?"

Maya looked down and noticed that they were moving forward, the cool air feeling downright cold as their motion caused wind-chill. "No… this is—this is incredible!"

Raven nodded. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos." When she spoke a sheath of black energy wrapped around Maya's legs and abdomen, and another swath of it appeared in front of her, acting as a semi-transparent windbreaker. Starfire flew along side them, enjoying Maya's fun almost as much as Maya herself was.

"So where do we go first?" Maya asked.

"Frank Newitt worked at Moby Paper Incorporated on the southern edge of town. We'll start there; we'll see if anybody he knew has a motive—or knows about someone who does."

Superman had it easy. When he wanted to fly, all he had to do was just extend his personal kinetic field and off he went. It didn't even drain him on most days because the sun replenished his energy as he flew.

Beast Boy had often wished he were Kryptonian. When Beast Boy wanted to fly, he had to first transform into an animal that could fly, and had to expend copious amounts of energy flapping his wings—be they leathered, feathered, or chitinous. It made his arms tired.

Driving the T-Car?

That wasn't tiring. That was fun.

"Are you sure you know the way to this place?" Ragnarök muttered as Beast Boy whirled the car into a turn going way too fast.

"I'm sure," Beast Boy said. "I used to go watch Star Wars at the Time Warp Theatre all the time when I first moved here."

The green teenager wasn't a bad driver, per say, but he undoubtedly let his emotions—in this case a craving for speed—get the better of him. By the time the three arrived at the apartment complex, Ragnarök and Phoenix both felt nauseous.

"That was fun!" Pearl cried. "Let's do it again!"

"No!" Ragnarök and Phoenix blurted in unison.

Two flights of stairs later, the unlikely quartet was on the top floor of the apartment, which overlooked the roof where the murder had occurred. "Where to first?" Pearl asked.

"I say we check out the victim's room," Beast Boy said. "This really isn't my area of expertise, so I'm trying really hard to think like Robin and I think this is where he'd think to go."

"Ya' think?" asked Rag sardonically.

Frank Newitt's room was a mess; it was obvious the instant they opened the door. A swivel chair next to his computer was overturned, and papers were scattered all over the place. A portrait had been knocked off the wall on the far end and was now lying across the waste basket at an angle.

"Maybe he's related to Ma Hunkel," Ragnarök deadpanned. Pearl laughed, even though she obviously had no idea who Ma Hunkel was.

"And maybe you shouldn't be trespassing," came a familiar gruff but very unmascualine voice. The four turned to see Detective Regina Simmons standing in the doorway of the apartment's bedroom, her pistol drawn and held tensely at her side.

"We're investigating," Beast Boy said. The gun was making him tense though. He immediately began thinking of what animals would be best for withstanding bullets in such a confined space; Beast Boy couldn't armor himself because the neither the Titans nor his old team, the Doom Patrol, had never found a material that was sufficiently strong enough and still allowed him to shape-shift freely without reverting to his human form naked.

"The police are investigating," Simmons replied. "And I don't care if Mr. Attorney over there is with you, even TC lawyers aren't allowed to tamper with the crime scene."

Pearl arched an eyebrow. "I thought the murder happened on the roof."

"It did, but as you can see, there was a struggle in here before the murder took place on the roof. And that makes this part of the crime scene."

"Are you sure Mr. Newitt just wasn't a messy person?" Wright asked.

"Funny." Simmons muttered.

"I wasn't trying to be," Wright said. "I mean, do you have proof there was a struggle here? What if someone just wants us to think there was?"

Regina narrowed her eyes and pushed back her auburn hair, which had fallen into her face. "There's no conclusive evidence that it was a struggle, but it seems that someone that Newitt was acquainted with came in without breaking and entering; a fight broke out, and Mr. Newitt fled onto the deck where he was murdered."

"That's inconsistent with Robin's testimony," Wright pointed out. "He said the murderer stole the weapon and lured him to the crime scene, not attacked from the inside."

"We have no way to verify that testimony, though." Regina frowned. "Listen, I've got to go soon. My men are watching you, and if you tamper with anything..."

Beast Boy's eyes lit up. "Wait, what would you consider conclusive evidence? Of a struggle, I mean?"

Regina glanced down at him. "Well, blood, for one."

Beast Boy nodded and transformed into a bloodhound, an action that clearly freaked Regina out. He began sniffing around the room, past the portrait and under the bed, then towards the bedroom and back over to the group.

He assumed his human form. "Well, there has definitely been someone else in the apartment besides you and Mr. Newitt. I smell one really lived in scent that kind of washes over everything and another that barely seems human. It's only in the places where things are smashed."

"Where was Frank Newitt last before he left the room?" Ragnarök asked.

"As best I can tell, he moved from that portrait over there, to the window, where he climbed out onto the roof. But it's a lot older than the scent of the stranger."

Regina walked across the room and picked up the portrait, noticing it was of a former President. "James K. Polk?" she wondered aloud. "Weird taste in art."

When Regina turned it around for Wright and Co. to see, a small slip of paper fell out, and Pearls, already being low to the ground, instantly snatched it up.

"What does it say?" Rag asked.

"I can't read it, the writing is all funny."

Wright took the note and read it aloud. "'If you're reading this and I'm dead, Nightwing… Blackjack. 10-20-04' ..That's all it says."

"Nightwing!?" Ragnarök gasped. "You mean the first Robin."

"Good lord, there's another one!?" Regina shook her head. "He's never been arrested for murder, has he?"

Phoenix shrugged. "I think that's what it says. But the date—it's over four years ago."

"So he didn't write it the night of the murder, but he's known the murder was coming since October 20th, 2004, or earlier?" Regina said. "Listen, this evidence, if you can call it that, doesn't help us any. Unless this 'Nightwing' fella knows what it means."

"I'll have Cyborg call him tonight," Beast Boy said. "Maybe Nightwing knows about a Blackjack themed villain or something."

Phoenix jotted down the contents of the note and added it to his court record, and handed the original copy to Regina.

"One thing's for sure," Regina said as the four walked away. "This case is a lot more complicated than that von Karma woman wants us to think."

"And just who might you be?" asked a rather rotund man with a Tom Selleck-style mustache. He'd been the first person Raven and Starfire encountered after entering the paper factory and seemed to be oblivious to anything that went on outside it. He had the aura of the supreme journeyman about him. Raven leaned back and sighed. "I'm Raven; I'm with the Teen Titans."

"You look like a hooligan," the man muttered. "Otaku punk in a fancy superhero costume."

Raven narrowed her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry, but I am very much the real thing. Now please let us in." Raven's eyes glowed white as she spoke, emphasizing the words and proving she wasn't just a kid in a costume.

Maya shuddered at the sight. Sure, she summoned the spirits of the dead into her own body—but glowing eyes? That was just creepy!

The man shuddered too, backing away. "What are you hear ta' investigate, exactly?"

Starfire's eye's widened. "Surely you know that your coworker, Mr. Frank Newitt, was murdered recently."

"Frank? Ho boy, I never thought anyone would wanna do Frank in!" the man shook his head. "Newitt was a total loner. Nobody ever bothered him, and he never bothered nobody. Just came to work, finished his shift, and went on home. Who killed 'im?"

"We don't know yet!" Maya blurted. "There's a suspect, and all, but we don't think he's the one who did it."

"Oh, I see." The man took a step back and regarded the oldest—though smallest—of the three girls. "You don't look near as familiar as these other two."

Raven stepped in. "I'm sorry, Mister--?"

" Carson."

"— Carson. Maya is not a member of the Titans. She's the personal assistant of the defendant's lawyer."

"Okay, then, no need to get all bothered about it. I'll get you the keys if you want to look around Frank's office."

Mr. Carson led them to a room in the back, where he unlocked the door. When the girls entered, Raven immediately felt an overwhelming rush of boredom slam into her. It was as if Newitt had been wasting away in here during life.

"Anything catch your eye?" Maya asked, suddenly across the room, looking over everything and holding tensed arms behind her back, as if it took all her willpower not to reach out and began touching. "Oh, look at this cute little globe!" She leaned over it and began spinning it by blowing on Germany.

Raven groaned inwardly—and then stopped dead in her tracks.

"What is it, Raven?" Starfire asked, almost running into the half-demon

"Someone else has been here very recently."

Maya whirled around, the globe in hand. "What?!"

"I'm not sure… There's a recent psychic impression in here, but it just distorts suddenly."

Maya shrugged. "Look around, see if you can find it."

Raven walked over and examined the globe. "That's strange," she said after a moment.

"What?" Starfire asked.

"This globe is wrong. 'The Republic of Kandaq'? Kandaq has never been a republic. It's never even pretended to be a republic."

"Maybe it's just a misprint," Maya said with a sigh. "OOH!" with a girlish squeal, Maya was on the other side of the room, looking at one of the shelves across from Newitt's desk. "A magic 8-Ball!"

Maya started to pick it up, but Starfire grabbed her and pulled her away from the shelf. "I am sorry, Friend Maya, but we are not meant to touch anything that isn't evidence."

But Starfire's tug was enough to send the Magatama around Maya's neck airborne a bit before falling back down against her chest—and when it was aloft, Raven saw it flash, just briefly, as it passed through the air at a certain level.

Raven, perplexed, reached out with her empathic senses, and suddenly was chilled. Something was still in the room, she was sure of it—whatever they'd almost surprised hadn't had time to leave, only hide...

"Starfire, Maya, hold on. Come here…"

"Hm?" Maya walked over, and Raven put the globe down.

"Your Magatama. It reacted to something in this room, which means that something in here isn't what it seems."

"Huh?" Maya blinked.

"The Magatama senses when someone is lying, or hiding something. That means there's someone pretended to be something it's not here in this room." Raven pulled the jewel on Maya's necklace into her hands and recited a short incantation…

Suddenly, the Magatama began glowing, and hovered in the air, twisting around Maya's neck until it was pointing… at the shelf.

Maya took a step closer until it was obvious that the Magatama was hovering directly towards the Magic 8-Ball.

Raven's eyes became thin slits, and she extended her hands towards the object on the shelf. "Azarath Ostendo Sum!"

White light lanced out of her finger tips and struck the 8-Ball.

KRAKA-BRUM!

The girls were simultaneously blinded by a brilliant flash of white light—and then a fist rushed out and slammed into Raven's face, staggering her. Starfire caught a glimpse of a foot flying towards her head and was suddenly seeing stars.

Maya gasped, unable to react as the assailant smashed her across the face, and then blasted out the window…. And all of this within two seconds.

Starfire was the first back on her feet—and immediately airborne, helping Maya up. "Are you okay?"

"My nose is bleeding isn't it?" Maya grumbled. "Ouch.."

Starfire grabbed a tissue from Frank Newitt's desk and wiped the blood from Maya's nose. "Not at all!"

"She's getting away," Raven barked. The two looked up to see Raven standing over them, her eyes once again glowing white. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Dark energy consumed all three girls and assumed the shape of a giant raven which shot through the roof of the building, phasing through it and heading skyward.

The energy dissipated and Raven and Starfire were zooming at their attacker, Maya dangling from a black-energy harness near Raven.

Finally they got a good glimpse of their attacker; she was tall, feminine, and glowing. She looked like a woman in a white jumpsuit with a 10 sewn on her shoulder and a symbol for 'Spades' in a deck of cards over her navel. Except she seemed to be entirely made of energy; an almost-blinding yellow glow surrounded her.

"Identify yourself," Raven demanded.

The woman pointed to the number 10 on her shoulder, and tapped it twice.

"Oh, of course. You're Ten. That answers all my questions."

Raven started forward, hoping to keep Maya back and away from harm—but Starfire pre-empted her, blasting forward and smashing a powerful dual-fisted hammer strike across Ten's face, then kneeing her in the gut.

"You will stand down and tell us why you were in the victim's office!" Starfire shouted.

But the villainess wasn't so easily persuaded, shrugging off Starfire's blows and returning fire. Ten grabbed Starfire by the throat and flew directly at Raven and Maya, then leaned back in mid air, planting her foot across Star's solar plexus and launching the princess into Raven's hastily-erected shield.

Ten retreated, flying backwards though seemingly knowing exactly where she was going. Her arms extended towards them—and then changed, transforming into a pair of large laser cannons.

Beams of energy lanced out, and Raven created another shield to deflect them. Starfire, on the other hand, weaved in between the blasts, and almost got close enough to punch Ten once again. But Ten suddenly accelerated, moving out of range of Star's fist and forcing Star to swing wildly and miss.

Ten's red slit of a mouth raised in a self-satisfied smirk.

Starfire wasn't giving up so easily. Brilliant green beams of energy arced out of her eyes and slammed into Ten's energy body, sending the supervillain staggering backward. Ten grunted, her voice sounding distorted, somehow mechanical despite the obvious anger..

Then, in a tone that was little more than a really loud whisper, she said a single word. "Ciao."

A brilliant flash of light filled the sky, blinding Starfire. Raven snapped her eyes shut and sealed Maya in a bubble of dark energy until the light subsided.

When it was gone, the elusive burglar that called herself Ten was nowhere to be seen.

"Welcome back, my friends. It is I, your guiding light in times of trouble—the one, the only, Link Rambeau. We're celebrating 20 years of amazing radio shows here on the Supremacy in Broadcasting Network."

The radio show segued into a series of clips from the previous twenty years of conservative talk radio's Link Rambeau, Democrat-basher extraordinaire.

Yin stretched his left arm across the across the room and turned off the radio. "Sigh. I know twenty years is a big thing, but I wish he'd talk more about president-elect Dibny. We know what went on in the past. It's the future I care about."

Cyborg also sighed, but his was for a very different reason. "Why do you even bother listening to that guy, dude? He's a blowhard. All he ever does is bash Democrats, and all the Democrats ever do is bash Republicans. It's pointless. I wish they'd just shut up and get something done."

Yin shook his head. "I just like to listen to him, okay. I don't see what your big deal is."

Cyborg craned his neck. "Propaganda is propaganda no matter who is saying it."

"So the truth is propaganda now?" Yin shot back.

"The truth is what we're trying to find out, Davis." Cyborg pulled up another file. "Politics is just a series of lies and misrepresentations. I wish life was just about kickin' bad guy butt, y'know? It would make things so much easier."

Davis hesitated a minute. "Would it? I guess. I just wish we knew who the bad guys really were, here. Have the security recordings shown you anything?"

"Other than the fact that the cameras were all covered in the same time frame the data used to incriminate Robin was created, not really."

Yin frowned. "You mean all the cameras were taken out simultaneously?"

Cyborg punched a few buttons…

"Almost exactly," he replied. "The feed just goes out and comes back in a few hours later. But the cameras are designed to only stay offline for three minutes at a time at most. Even if you cut the wires on them, they have battery back up. This sort of thing would have to be done from the main control center—and the cameras don't record anyone there at the time the feed cuts out."

Yin stretched is neck over to see what Cyborg was saying. "Hm. It sounds like either our infiltrator was in two places at once, or he had some considerably skilled help."

"We might as well add the disabled cameras to evidence," Cyborg said. "It will prove at least that someone's got something to hide."

Phoenix and Pearl were just about to call it quits when Beast Boy glanced oddly down the hall. "Hey, I think I saw someone…"

"It's an apartment building, of course you saw someone!" Ragnarök chided as Beast Boy took off down the hall.

"Yeah, but he looked familiar," Garfield Logan called back.

"Great," Rag said. He shrugged at Phoenix and took off, and Pearl was fast behind him.

"Come on, Mr. Nick! We can't give up yet!"

Wright resigned himself and followed the three younger humans towards the end of the hall. When he rounded the corner, he unexpectedly saw Beast Boy and Ragnarök standing still and apparently having a staring contest with a young man. He was tall, at least six feet tall, and had a shock of black hair that was concave on top, giving the very slight impression of horns.

The young man was staring confusedly, and with a hint of annoyance, at the Titans. "I'm sorry, but may I ask why we've suddenly engaged in such a pointless staring contest in the middle of the hallway?" He spoke in an accent so austere and uptight it Wright almost mistook it for posh British society.

No, it wasn't though. It was probably a New Englander accent, Wright conceded.

"No offense dude, I just thought you looked familiar at first." Beast Boy held his hands up defensively. Funny, the kid could turn into a Bengal tiger at any moment and rip the guy in half, yet it was Beast Boy that cringed away.

"You're a Titan," the man observed. "I saw you in court today."

"You were there?" Rag asked with some surprise.

"Of course I was. My own younger brother was testifying today."

"You mean that Blooming Onion kid." Rag nodded.

That just set the man off. "Blooming Onion? That's the most ridiculous, maleficent besmirchment of my family's good name I've ever heard!" Wright cowed away, and Pearl clung to his leg.

"We are the Bloominflaurs!" he said, emphasizing the name as if it were the most important thing in the universe. "I am Ted Bloominflaur, the oldest and most intelligent son of our lineage."

"Yeah, sure," Beast Boy said, backing off. "Not trying to start a fight here, dude."

"Hold it!" Wright said. He reached into his pocket and clutched Maya's Magatama. And it was instantly clear that this Ted Bloominflaur was covered in Psyche-Locks—visual representations of the things hidden in his heart. There were only two, though. Wright didn't worry about having to crack them, assuming it became necessary. But he did want to speak to someone else. "Your parents. I would actually like to talk to them. Your little brother mentioned that he showed them the photos he took of the victim."

"Ah yes. I do believe the child caught your client in the act, eh?" Ted gave Wright a sadistic smirk that didn't go unnoticed by the Titans and Maya. "My parents are in the room at the end of this hall. I have business to attend to. Good day."

With that, Ted Bloominflaur left.

"Friendly guy," Rag remarked as they reached the end of the hall.

Three knocks on the door and two figures appeared in it as it opened into a very nice apartment that looked entirely out of place in such an otherwise low-end building. The man looked over Beast Boy and Ragnarök and immediately harrumphed. "I'm tired of answering questions today," he muttered. "I'm afraid I'll have to respectfully decline any more inquiries into the photos my son took."

"Nonsense, dear," the woman with him said. She stopped him from slamming the door in the faces of the Titans and invited everyone in. The man looked at the woman, who appeared to be about forty and in good physical shape for her age, with a curious glance. "Is this a good idea, sweetie?"

"I won't have it any other way," she returned. "Please excuse my Harold," she said. "He is terribly unfriendly around strangers." She extended a hand. "Elizabeth Bloominflaur."

The lawyer reached out and shook the woman's hand. " Phoenix Wright, Attorney at Law."

"I know," she said. "I've read so much about you!"

"You have?" Wright said, goggling.

"Mr. Nick is famous!" Pearl beamed, clapping her hands.

The woman laughed nervously. "I'm afraid I've become something of a fangirl," she said. "Always getting defendants off the hook. I respect that in a lawyer."

Wright shrugged. "Well, I'm not perfect, ma'am. I guess it's really been mostly a lot of luck and help from my assistants that has seen me through all this."

"Don't worry about it," Elizabeth said. "Anyway, is there anything I can do for you? I know Harold is tired of questions, but I'm fresh off of a nap and ready for anything."

Wright glanced over at the Titans, and Beast Boy nodded.

"Your son said he saw the murder. He said he took two photos. Is there anything more to the story? Did you hear a struggle."

Elizabeth frowned. "We hear struggles all the time in this apartment. Dreadful place. I keep badgering Harold to get a new one. By the way, your case defending Harry Butts? Brilliant!"

"Uh.. Thanks." Wright said. Funny she sites my first case—the least brilliant of anything I've done. Not that anything I've ever done was brilliant to begin with.

"The photos are no longer in our possession," she finally said after a minute. "That lady detective took them and the camera itself this morning."

A loud clock chime sounded through the antechamber, and Wright glanced over and saw that it was now 3:00 PM.

"Well, it is getting late," Elizabeth said. "Perhaps we should continue this another time."

"Perhaps." Wright reached into his pocket and clutched the Magatama. Yup. She was holding Psyche-Locks too, as was Harold Bloominflaur. Then again, with high-society like this, they probably have plenty of things they don't want known to the public.

"Are you deaf and stupid, man?" Harold blurted. "My wife says its time for you to leave."

Suddenly, a new voice called in from another room, a kitchen from the looks of it, and Wright craned his head. A small girl, younger than Pearl, walked in. "I'm back, mum.. I…"

The little girl suddenly look shocked to see Wright standing there, along with the Titan. She stood there frozen, staring at them.

"What are they doing here?" the kid asked.

"It's okay, dear." Elizabeth said. "They're just… visitors."

"They're the bad men who want to save the Robin," the little girl hissed. "I don't like them."

Something in the child's voice made Phoenix's gut fill with ice. He frowned, and addressed her. "I'm sorry you feel that way, little…?"

"Jasmine," the girl said.

"Jasmine, how about we go into another room and you tell me about your school day," Harold said. The little girl followed her father out of the room.

"Well, I guess we had better get on the road too." Wright said. Before this entire family drives me insane.

"Bye, folks!" Rag said, waving and smiling broadly at them. Elizabeth returned the fakest smile any of them had ever seen, and turned to follow her husband and daughter as the Titans, Pearl, and Nick left the apartment.

Just to be on the safe side, though, Phoenix added profiles for the entire Bloominflaur family to the Court Record.

11:11 AM
 The Roof of Titans Tower

Ragnarök's late-night rendezvous skills weren't really all that accomplished, but he found his way to the roof without waking anyone regardless. His powers came entirely from his armor, and his armor could be summoned at will from its dormant form, stored inside his body as a series of cybernetic modifications to his nervous system.

Right now, he wore a simple grey hoodie and brown slacks.

Raven, on the other hand, wore her traditional garb, her heavy blue cloak fluttering in the cold December breeze.

"Did you bring the hologram ring?" she asked.

Ragnarök held it up. "Yeah. Right here."

"You'll need to get rid of the hoodie for this to work."

"Rae, I'm wearing a tank top underneath this. Please don't make me disrobe in this weather."

"We can't have any mistakes," she stated emphatically.

Rag consented finally, and removed the hoodie. The ring flashed, and Ragnarök was suddenly a perfect duplicate of Robin in his stripped-down jail-bird costume. It was essential for their plan to work.

Raven then closed her eyes. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

In a blinding wave of darkness, Raven and Ragnarök vanished from the roof of the Tower; nobody noticed the massive black shadow cross the bay to the mainland and sweep through the detention center walls, intangible to all but that which Raven needed to manipulate.

When Robin saw the clock by his bed strike exactly 2:18, he rolled over, and it was at that moment that the shadow passed, over him, replacing Robin with Ragnarök and carrying the accused to the highest point in Jump City—the space needle.

"That was risky," Raven chided.

"And my identity being made public would be a disaster." Robin replied, using techniques taught to him by Batman to resist the bitter cold. Raven handed him a spare utility belt and a pair of boots.

"The trip to Gotham will require a bit more focus than simple teleportation across the city. Sit down."

Raven and Robin sat side by side, hand in hand, as Raven prepared an elaborate spell.

And in the darkness of the night, the duo vanished from the West Coast and began the 3000 mile journey to Gotham City.

Dr. Leslie Thompkins wasn't a heavy sleeper.

In fact, given the circumstances, with the entire 'Bat Family' in danger of being exposed, not to mention the raging thunder storm outside, she wasn't able to sleep at all tonight. She was up at 2:30 in the morning, Eastern Standard Time, and sipping a cup of decaffeinate tea, and reading an old psychology book… And then the lightning flashed and a pair of white eye-slits glared down at her from behind a figure draped in a thick black cape.

Leslie jumped in her seat, spilling her tea.

"You shouldn't have done that—"

Suddenly, she looked up and realized she wasn't talking to the man she thought she was.

"Dr. Thompkins," came the harsh but youthful voice of Robin.

"T… Tim—is that you? My lord, you've grown up…"

Tim walked forward, silent till he reached Leslie, and then stumbled forward, wrapping her in a hug. "It's good to see you." Robin whispered.

Leslie understood what was happening. She hadn't spoken to the young man before her in over two years, and after all this time—he was thanking her. Had it really been that long since the Joker'd had his way with the boy? Tormented him, reshaped him in his own image?

That long since Robin had taken the Joker's life?

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Robin asked as he broke off the embrace.

"Shouldn't you be in jail?" asked Leslie.

Robin grimaced. "I didn't kill that man."

"I know you didn't," she said. "But what do you want me to do about it? There's clearly a motive established. You could so easily debunk it if you could just unmask as someone other than yourself."

"You know I can't do that," Robin said. "I can't unmask under any circumstances. But if I have proof of Timothy Drake's death—"

"You want me to give you your own forged death certificate?" Leslie's question was almost a statement.

"Bruce told me that he had contingency plans in case our identities came under suspicion."

"And he sent you to me?"

"I've not talked to him since last night," Robin said. "As far as I know, he doesn't know that I'm in Gotham, and he hasn't contacted the Titans."

"Why didn't you just have one of your friends come then?" Leslie pulled the robe she'd wrapped herself in for warmth tight around her body and strode towards a book case. "Save yourself the trouble of breaking out of jail."

"Because I need to ask you a favor. I need you to commit perjury for me. And that's not something you ask someone through a middle man."

"You want me in the court room." Leslie asked, incredulous.

"If you have patients to attend to—"

"Tim, I'm retired," Leslie said. "I only see Bruce and his associates anymore. And that's almost too much for me. Thank God that Alfred has some medical training or Bruce would have worked me to death already."

"So you'll come."

She turned, holding a book out. "We'll see. Open this."

Robin did so, and pulled a large yellow envelope from inside.

"This is your death certificate," she said. "You know the cover story, correct?"

Robin nodded, and turned to go.

"Tim…" Leslie's grey hair fell slightly as she bowed her head, ashamed. "Tim… I really need to say that.. I'm sorry."

"You're apologizing to me? For what?"

"I'm a physician and a surgeon. You needed a psychiatrist. I tried my best to help you recover from what that monster did to you—but I didn't have the proper training. Thanks to me you lost nearly a year of your life. It's something I've lived regretting every day—that I couldn't have helped you faster."

Robin shook his head. "Dr. Thompkins… If you hadn't been there, hadn't helped me, I wouldn't be standing here today. I can never change what the Joker did to me—or what Slade tried to do. And I can't ever forgive myself for what I did that night."

"You should. He was the Joker, Tim; you did the world a favor by taking him out of it."

"I can't let myself think that," Robin said. "I took a life—evil as it was. And if you hadn't helped me, I'd never have a chance to make up for what happened that night. And I never would have formed the Titans."

Leslie finally sighed. "You have your own demons still to exorcize," she said at length.

"One thing at a time." Robin waited for a lightning flash, and as it did, he vanished out the window.

"Did you get what you needed?" Raven asked him as they found themselves on a nearby rooftop, a dark shield.

"I'm not sure what I need," he replied, clenching a fist.

"I mean for the trial," she shot back dryly.

After a beat, Robin nodded. "Before we go back home, there's one more stop I need to make…. Take me to Bludhaven."