-CROSS-EXAMINATION-

It's time for a turnabout!

Instead of looking at the suspects' motives to kill, why not look at their motives to lie about killing?

The bandit… would lie to claim the honor of defeating her clan's sworn enemy.

The samurai… would lie to preserve that honor, and to protect his beloved Princess from suspicion.

The woman… Her motives, between her strange behavior and hazy memory, are the most unclear.

Her changing face… the so-called mind control… It's all coming together!

The judge appears captivated and excited. "Enlighten us, commoner!"

"Well… We still don't know the culprit, but we may have another character involved that may make the accounts we have more compatible to judge. The presence of a fifth party is based on reasoning that is difficult to prove, yet we have proof in the very courtroom: spirit mediums. And, if my hunch is correct, not just the little one."

The Pink Princess steps gracefully forward. "An astute observation, Sir Attorney. Indeed, I hail from a royal bloodline of strong spiritual power."

"I see…" murmurs the prosecutor. "This could be the key to understanding her strange behavior. She never betrayed our lord after all."

"And maybe, the long arm of justice will have to reach somewhere beyond!"

"…MY PRINCESS!"

With a dramatic slam, more dramatic than any other, the courtroom doors burst open one last time. Trumpets flare with a familiar melody.

"Wait, what?"

"I thank you, commoner. My Princess is purged of her dishonor." A deep masculine voice rings out as once before, but no longer from the spirit medium's position. "I too, will reclaim my honor and together we will return to our rightful service."

Standing proudly between the courtroom doors, a tall and muscular figure is drenched in the rain that continues to pour outside, which only makes his steel armor glisten all the more with the impending hope of the rising sun.

Here before everyone stands… the Steel Samurai, well and alive!?

"…Wait! No! HOLD IT! This is definitely a contradiction!"

"Nick!" The princess puffed out her rosy cheeks. "An actor must always keep in character!"

"I am my character! And I don't think he would stand for this." Phoenix turned, troubled, to the grubby little director. "The medium couldn't have channeled the samurai to testify if he wasn't actually dead. If that's the case, this whole story doesn't hold any water."

"Hm," the prosecutor mused. "Then again, are irreconcilable contradictions not the very theme of the original film?"

(Edgeworth… Tell me you're not praising the writing for being purposely bad.)

"…It is clever," he shrugged with a smirk, "though I don't believe in irreconcilable contradictions."

"L0L." Not actually laughing at all, the director stared condescendingly at his blue-suited actor. "D0 j00 7h1nk 1'm 5700p1D 3n0ugH 2 fR4G t3h 5733L 54mur41?"

"Obviously, the face of the franchise can't die! Just be patient and it'll all work out in the end," Maya confidently asserted, as if she were the one running the show. "We still haven't gotten to the part about the Iron Infant! Where they all discover a reason to restore their faith in humanity– and get back to fighting Evil, of course."

Phoenix opened his mouth to object to absolutely everything, but, much like his character, he had no answer to these contradictions. Unlike his character, his faith in humanity was anything but restored.