Author's Notes:

Okay, so here we are, Chapter 2! Thanks to all who read this far!
I implore you all to leave your reviews and thoughts on this series so I can work
on making it better, okay?

District Court
Courtroom No. 5
10:30 AM

The crowd was restless, as usual. The murmurs from the gallery hung over the entire court as Arthur Frost took his position at the prosecution bench, resting on arm on the desk, and the other in his pocket, quietly fiddling with his badge.
Jonathan Vyra took his place next to him in the co-council seat, a bemused look on his face.

"My, how the courts have changed..." he muttered with a slight chuckle.

Arthur placed the evidence on the desk, trying to look as confident as possible.

Across from him, the defendant sat grinning confidently. His hair was a ridiculous mess, shooting out in a way that would make Yugi Moto jealous. He wore a rather gaudy outfit with not a hint of subtlety. He was busy playing with his hair and leaning back in his chair, looking more like he was at a leisurely picnic than at a trial. The defense bench, however, was unoccupied.

SMACK!

The Judge, a bespectacled young man with a short beard and brown hair, brought down his gavel, magically silencing the talkative gallery.

"Good morning," he said, addressing the court with an authoritative tone. "I am Judge Gardner. As some of you may have noticed, I am indeed a new Judge, and this is my first trial. The court is now in session."

He smacked his gavel again for added emphasis. "Mr. Smithers, please take the stand."

The defendant made his way over to the stand with a swagger in his step and a sneer on his face.

"Mr. Ed Smithers. You stand accused of the murder of Mr. Jeff Dune. How do you plead?"

Smithers ran his fingers through his wild hair and then declared: "Could a face like this be Guilty, Your Honor?"

"I'll take that as a 'Not Guilty', then."

Smithers merely shrugged and returned to his seat.

"Alright, then," Judge Gardner said, pushing up his glasses. "I understand that the prosecution for this case is also a first-timer to the courts?"

Arthur nodded in response. "Yes, Your Honor. The prosecution is ready."

"Very good... Hm?" Gardner took notice of Jonathan, as well as the golden badge he wore.

"Hey..." You could practically see the gears turning inside the new Judge's head. "I know you. You're Jonathan Vyra, the famous Defense Attorney!"

"Guilty as charged," Jonathan replied with a laugh.

"But... You're standing with the prosecutor."

"Indeed."

Gardner pondered this for a moment, then shook his head and dismissed the matter.

"Anyways," He said, pushing up his glasses again, "Will the representative of the jury please take the stand?"

The jurors were not present, but were watching from afar via camera footage. Arthur imagined their cold gazes watching his every move, and straightened his posture and held his head a little higher.

Meanwhile, the representative, a rather elderly man, stepped up to the stand. In his ear was a headset that connected him to the jury. Despite his age, he had the air of a military man and a piercing glare that showed many years of experience. Once he was certain that he had the court's undivided attention, he spoke.

"The jury is ready, Your Honor." he said, his voice sounding more like a Judge's than Gardner's. He stepped down and returned to his seat.

"Very good," Gardner said, trying to sound more Judge-like. "Now, let's see..."

Gardner sat there for a moment, running over the court procedures in his head. Arthur began to worry if his case would hold up to this rather new Judge...

"Ah! I remember!" Gardner declared like a schoolchild who had remembered an answer to a question, "Is the defense prepared?"

He turned to look at the defense bench, only to find it deserted.

"Um... Where is the defense?"

(You just noticed now?) Arthur thought.

"My lawyer should be here any minute, Your Honor," Smithers said, idly toying with a strand of hair. "But you might as well hand me a Not Guilty verdict right now, because my lawyer's one of the best."

(We'll see about that, Smithers,) Arthur thought as he glared at the defendant like a wolf baring its fangs.

"Well, if the defense isn't here, then I can't start the trial..." Gardner said, unsure of what to do.

Suddenly, a dramatic cry rang out in the courtroom.

"OBJECTION!"

The gallery turned towards the source of the yell to find the courtroom doors bursting open. Through it stepped in a man donning a fedora hat, a bright blue jacket, and a glimmering golden badge on his shirt.
He wore a winning smile and practically danced to the defense bench, flashing grins to the crowd and the hidden cameras of the jury. He high-fived the defendant before taking his place at the bench like a rock star taking the stage.

"Yo, Judge," he said, quickly slipping on his jacket, "Sorry I'm late."

"You must be Mr. Gullivan, correct?" Gardner said scratching his chin thoughtfully.

"Caesar Gullivan," the defense attorney replied, "Gull to my friends, a threat to my enemies."

He took off his hat with a graceful swoop of his arm, revealing a shock of light blue hair tied up in the back, like the tail-feathers of a seagull.

"I'm here to set the record straight; to trim the lies from the tree of truth; to end the deception in the courts; and free this righteous man from the wrongful chains of the law!"

This speech caused a ripple of noise amongst the crowd.

"Caesar Gullivan? I've heard of him!"

"I heard he's really good."

"Defense attorneys nowadays have quite a bit of impact..."

Arthur rolled his eyes at the flamboyance of this show-off attorney. The gallery, much to his dismay, seemed quite taken with him.

"He's playing to the audience," Jonathan explained. "It's the main advantage defense attorneys use. They know that they're being watched by good-hearted people, and have a talent of twisting the truth for them."

"Is that why you always win?" Arthur asked jokingly.

"Heh, well, it's part of the reason. But the main reason is because I only defend those who are truly innocent."

His smile momentarily wavered. "Seeing men like him make me feel nothing but disgust. You would never find me trying to sell off scum as gold."

"Alright, then," Gardner said, satisfied. "Now that we're all here, let's start the trial!"

SMACK!

The courtroom filled with silence and anticipation. Arthur stared down Gullivan, and the defense attorney met his challenging glare with a confident smirk.

"Now..." Gardner muttered to himself, "What am I supposed to do, again...? "

The entire courtroom groaned at once.

"Your Honor," Arthur spoke up, "With your permission, I'd like to give my opening statements."

"Yes, of course, opening statements!"

He smacked down his gavel again. "Right, let's see what you've got, Mr. Frost."

Arthur held up the case file and began to read.

"The victim was a Mr. Jeff Dune, an upcoming doctor and talented medic. He was killed at South Bridge yesterday at 5:00 PM by a gunshot to the chest."

"I see..." Gardner said, trying to appear thoughtful.

"There was little evidence left at the crime scene," Arthur continued. "The murder weapon is currently missing, and the police believe that it is still in the killer's possession. However, a bullet was recovered from the victim's body, so we can check the ballistic markings to any weapons that may turn up."

He held up a light brown envelope with the words "Autopsy Report" written on it. "The prosecution submits the bullet and this autopsy report as evidence, Your Honor."

"I see," Gardner said, searching his stubble pensively. "The court accepts this into evidence."

"Lastly," Arthur said, taking out the final piece of evidence, "This is a picture taken from the security camera at South Bridge."

He displayed it for all the court to see; a high-angle shot of the defendant entering the bridge. The bridge was a very elegant wood bridge with a heavy trench coat on, designed to resemble those of the Japanese temples. The bridge and the cobblestone path leading to it were unusually dark, and the ripples in the river below the bridge confirmed that it was indeed raining, and raining hard.

"Hey, that's the defendant!" Gardner said.

(Thank you, Captain Obvious,) Arthur thought.

"Yes, it is," Arthur said. "As you can see from this picture, there was a very big storm on the day of the murder. Very few people were out of their homes during it."

"Yes, yes, I remember hearing that it was one of the biggest storms of the year," Gardner interjected again.

(I'm getting tired of this Judge's constant interjections,) Arthur thought, inwardly sighing to himself.

"Unfortunately, the storm didn't leave a lot of evidence behind, and there wasn't much to find at the crime scene. However, seeing how there were very few people out during this storm, ergo, fewer witnesses, and the defendant was in the same area as the victim at around the same time as the murder..." Arthur slammed his desk with his right fist for emphasis, then drove his point home.

"The only possibility for these actions is to commit murder!"

The crowd began to chatter once again, until silenced by another smack of Gardner's gavel.

"Order in the court!" He declared. "I've always wanted to say that..."

"OBJECTION!"

All eyes shifted to Gullivan, who shook his head at Arthur as if he were a fly attempting to escape a glass jar.

"The only possibility? Don't make me laugh." He proceeded to do so anyways. "So typical of you closed-minded prosecutors. Isn't that what the others thought when they matched wits with the legendary Phoenix Wright?"

(Don't even compare yourself to him,) Arthur wanted to say, but restrained himself.

"Rookie, I think your accusations should wait until after I've completed my cross-examination." Gullivan pointed a taunting finger at Arthur. "So hurry up and drag out that pretty little witness of yours and let's get this started!"

"Fine, then," Arthur said. "Will Ms. Alise Reevers please take the stand?"

In a couple of minutes, the artist stood at the stand, staring off into space until pulled back down to earth by Arthur's voice.

"Witness, please give your name and occupation."

"Alise Reevers, freshman art student..."

"Alright. Please give your testimony regarding what you saw."

"Okay..."

WITNESS TESTIMONY

-What I Witnessed-

"I was at South Bridge on the day of the crime, sketching the bridge for an art project."

"It was raining really hard, so I drew from the shed nearby."

"The victim was already on the bridge when I got there. He was just standing idly, so I didn't pay him any mind."

"A few minutes later, another man walked up and they started talking."

"However, I ran out of supplies, so I had to run to the store to buy more."

"Once I got back, I heard a gunshot, and then a splash."

"I looked to the bridge and only saw the defendant walking away."

"Then I went to notify the authorities."

The court was silent for a few moments, and Judge Gardner had his eyes closed in thought. After a while, he opened one and looked at the witness.

"Oh, you're finished?" He sat up straight and rapped his gavel again. "Um, in that case, start the cross-examination!"

"Arthur," Jonathan said, "This is where it gets rough. Gullivan will do anything he can to try and discredit your witness. You can't let that happen. Whatever lies he throws out there, shatter them with some evidence, okay?"

"Got it," Arthur said. (I won't lose to Gullivan, and I won't let Smithers get away!)

"Heh, let's see what you've got, Rookie," Gullivan said with a sneer.

SMACK!

Phew, another chapter done! I look forward to putting all of this into game form on Ace Attorney Online!
The next chapter will be the Cross-Examination, where things will get really heated!
Thank you for reading, and please review!