Phoenix was in the defendants lobby. Alone, this time. He didn't want the girls to help him, because they might yell something out, and be held in contempt. It is better if they sit in the stands, so they can cheer on Yang.
To be honest, Phoenix had no idea how today was going to turn out. He had an idea, but it was surrounded in a massive fog. Not to mention, if he is able to find out who is guilty, and it turns out to be his former client, his daughter will be... No! Phoenix thought to himself, I can't think like that! I have to trust that Achilles will come through for me. And I have to make sure Justice will prevail today!
The bailiff opened the door, and motioned for him to come in to the courtroom. He sighed, and clapped his hands. Show time.
The court had the same audience as before, same prosector, same defense attorney, but something was different. Not only was the atmosphere changed, but the judge was also.
"Oh! Hello Mr. Wright!" The old judge said, his white beard covering his mouth.
"Y-Your Honor!? What happened to the other judge?!"
"Well, it appears he had to call in sick today, and he was almost deathly ill, so I volunteered to take his place, and because I was in the first case, which this appears to be linked with." The Judge explained.
"Makes sense..." Phoenix thought out everything that the prosecution would say in her opening statement. But, as for an entire paragraph Phoenix thought that she would say, it was only 3 sentences:
"Ms. Yang Xiao Long is guilty. The autopsy showed that the cause of death was the carbon monoxide from her bike. This eliminates the question Phoenix Wright pointed out, thus, Yang Xiao Long is guilty."
Hold It!
"Not so fast!" Phoenix stopped her before the Judge could answer, "During My investigation, something that you didn't say about the autopsy popped up!"
"And I assume that would be the apparent 'knife' that stabbed him?" She knew already what he was getting after, "Ah, yes, and it was a stab wound in the chest, but, it wasn't long enough to reach any vital organs, only incapacitate the victim for only a few minutes. That led Yang to use her bike to kill the victim."
The courtroom murmured again, and the Judge slammed down his gavel. "I say, the prosecution has indeed found something that could put this case away right now! Unless, Mr. Wright, you have anything to say about this case that remains unanswered?"
Think, Phoenix! You're already on the ropes, teetering towards a guilty verdict! There's gotta be something that is the truth! ...Ah!
"There is something, your honor." Phoenix said, scratching his chin, "As the guilty detective said, yesterday, he did indeed found the evidence on Yang's bike, but that's all he said. He didn't include the possibility of framing. And, as he also said, it was pre-meditated. If this was case, she would've had to have have a motive before the murder! Meaning, she would have to know the victim."
"Ah, yes, this does remain unanswered. Prosecution?" The Judge turned his attention towards the other bench, "Do you have anything to answer these questions?"
The prosecution smiled, and started to nod her head, "The prosecution calls Mr. Callaway to the stand."
Mr. Callaway strode up their, handcuffs, and an orange jumpsuit.
"Witness, name and occupation, please." The prosecution asked.
"The now guilty Detective Callaway. I am a former detective, and I am currently in jail."
"Very good! Now, witness, please being your testimony."
"Yes Ma'am!" He answered vigorously.
Okay, Phoenix thought to himself, here we go!
Elsewhere...
Apollo and Athena stood in the courtroom, coming off a fresh victory. It was very easy, too, as the prosecutor was Winston Payne's son.
"How can someone be that dumb?" Athena laughed, slapping apollo on the back.
"It is a Payne, after all." Apollo smiled.
"More like a PAYNE in the ass, if you ask me." Athena tried to crack.
"...Really...?" Apollo felt a bead of sweat roll down his face.
"Was my joke really that bad...?" Athena realized how dumb it was.
"Yes. Yes it was." Apollo added insult to injury.
"My bad..." Athena trailed off, looking towards the outside of the courtroom. "So, what should we do now?"
"I guess get a burger or something..." Apollo got up, and brushed off his shoulders. Athena got up, and followed Apollo outside. It was still very cold outside, as it was almost about to snow. From the steps to the courtroom, the look a left, and walked there. They saw a man come around the corner, and look at them. He let them pass him, looking at them closely. He finally spoke to them, "Hey!" They both kept walking, as this was probably a drug addict wanting money or something. The man shrugged, and went back into the alley.
They kept walking, not noticing the footsteps from behind them. "Hello." They heard a man call out form behind them. They didn't pay any attention and just kept walking. "Hey!" The voice called out again, and they just sped up. "You must be Apollo and Athena, correct?" They sped up the pace, now almost a jog. The voice kept up with them, "This is about Mr. Wright's daughter!" They both stopped instantly, and turned around to see the face of the man that spoke to them.
He had small beard forming, and a slick black buzz cut on top of his head. He wore a long grey jacket, like the one... Mr. Edgeworth... wears... "Finally, you stopped. Hello, My name is Achilles Torchwick, and I am a prosecutor in Vale. I need both of your help to get his daughter back."
"Okay... Prosector Achilles... how do you know his daughter is kidnapped?" Apollo questioned.
"You could say I am an.. 'advocate' of Mr. Wright's..." Achilles thought if what he say matched the current situation, before getting re-focused, "But that doesn't matter right now! You have to trust me. I have a strong idea of who took her and where it happened."
Apollo and Athena looked at each other, and nodded. They needed to help Phoenix in any where they could. "Alright then. C'mon, we don't have much time!" The prosecutor yelled over his shoulder, as they took off after him in a dead run.
Elsewhere...
Witness Testimony: Motive and Framing
Yang Xiao Long is Guilty, and the 2 questions he proposed are easy to answer
First, let's talk about motive.
Who says she didn't know the victim?
What if I have evidence to prove she knew who he was?
But, the main thing I see here is the framing.
There wasn't an opportunity, nor anything but the hose and the funnel on the bike.
-Testimony End-
"Well, Mr. Wright, you may begin the cross examination."
"Thank you, your honor." Phoenix replied. He had a lot to go through with this testimony, so he knew he should mainly press...
Cross Examination: Motive and Framing
Yang Xiao Long is Guilty, and the 2 questions he proposed are easy to answer
Nothing here...
First, let's talk about motive.
Hold it!
"Now, let's get our definition of motive straight," Phoenix started, "What exactly points to a motive, in a general type of guideline?
"Well, what it mainly is is reason to commit the crime. If they have a plausible time frame to commit the crime, it's a motive." The former detective answered back.
"Okay, so what motive did she have?"
Who says she didn't know the victim?
Hold it!
"Do you have any evidence to-" Phoenix was cut off by the detective.
"-prove that she knew the victim." The detective seemed agitated, "If you would let me get to that!"
"Fine, go on now."
What if I have evidence to prove she knew who he was?
Hold it!
"What is this 'evidence' you have?"
"Heh heh, I'm glad you asked." The detective said, with an evil grin. "On her bike, we found a note."
"A note?" Phoenix asked, scratching his chin.
"Yeah, which says, 'Meet at hotel tonight. I have a special surprise for you." To this, the courtroom had few murmurs, but silenced quickly with the aid of the judges gavel.
"Hmmm..." I guess I should press on about this apparent 'note'. "Now, during your investigation, did you ever find the so called 'present' with Yang?"
"Unfortunately, no." He answered, shaking his head. Hmm... I wonder what it was...
But, the main thing I see here is the framing.
Now, let's see his reasoning for this...
There wasn't an opportunity, nor anything but the hose and the funnel on the bike.
Hm. Looks like his investigation wasn't thorough enough...
Objection!
"Detective! Looks like your investigation wasn't thorough enough!"
"What do you mean, Wright?" The prosecution asked, "He was a top notch detective! He couldn't have missed anything!"
"Oh, but he did! And he missed something in the most important spot! The tailpipe!" The courtroom erupted in whispers, which took the Judge 3 strikes on the desk to silence them.
"The... tailpipe...?" The guilty detective on the stand looked confused.
"Ah ah ah, Mr. Wright!" The prosecution was holding up a piece of paper. "See here? This is the investigation report. Look under where it says 'Tailpipe." Phoenix took the document, and looked over it.
"Nothing found in tailpipe..." Phoenix read aloud,
"Ha! See, Wright?!" The detective called him out form the stand.
"Hmm... Well, then, detective, let's do a little thought walkthrough here." Phoenix started to scratch his chin, "Well, if the object in the tailpipe, which was a light blue cloth, which details we will talk about later, wasn't in there when you investigated, when could it have been placed in there?"
"Well, it would be after the investigation, up until, I guess yesterday." The detective thought out.
"Good; Now, let's think of some suspects, shall we?"
"Where are you...?" The detective started, but didn't finish. The prosecution was oddly silent.
"Well, it would be crazy to think Yang Xiao Long would put it in there. I mean, he took her bike in due to a tiny scratch! So, it couldn't have been here. Now, I also took the liberty, while investigating, to get a service record of the bike, which wasn't worked on from this murder to when I found the cloth yesterday. Now, either a stranger put it in there, or a certain someone could've put it in there."
"Who? Out with it Wright!" The detective challenged, trying to bluff. It failed. Miserably.
"You, detective." Phoenix stated. The crows sat there in struck silence.
"M-m-me?"
"Yes, you."
"B-b-but... You haven't any proof!" The guilty detective tried to wriggle out.
"Ah, but you have said it yourself, while talking about Yang! You said you investigated her bike while at Beacon! You could've easily planted the cloth in there!"
The detective stood there in dumbfounded silence. He finally let out a little laugh, and responded to the accusation, "So what if I did? It's just a cloth!"
"Oh, not any cloth, my friend." Phoenix put his hand's on his hips, knowing he was about to bust this case open with TNT. "This cloth was special. This cloth- Had blood on it!"
[Cornered, any]
The courtroom started to discuss about this. When the Judge finally silenced them, he asked the detective, "How could you have kept this crucial piece of information from us?!"
"Ah, well..." He tried thinking of an excuse, but couldn't find one.
"Now, I'm willing to wager that this cloth was used to clean the knife after the stabbing was done." Phoenix concluded.
"Yes, that would seem logical," The prosecutor finally spoke crossing her arms. "But, that doesn't prove he killed him. Let's remember, he found the pieces used to the Carbon Monoxide tailpipe on her bike!"
"Now, that would be true, if we had someone to back up this report. When, exactly was this report done?"
"Hmm, let's see... 2 days prior to the Yang arrest." The prosecution calculated.
"Now, let's think of this a different way. If he was the only one doing this report, he could've placed the evidence then!"
"That... that.. thats outrageous!" The prosecution spat.
"Ah, but it is possible, and seeing the way our good friend here is reacting," The detective started sweating bullets, praying this abuse would stop, "I say it is the 3way it went down!" Phoenix concluded.
"Ok, then, Mr. Wright: Tell me how he killed the victim with the Carbon Monoxide? Did he use Yang's bike."
Phoenix gave it a little thought, before responding, "No, he couldn't have done that... Hmm... I have another outrageous idea, if you don't mind."
"Go right ahead..." The prosecution allowed.
"Well, let's think back to how the crime-scene looked. The crime scene was really a calm one. Most of the things were obvious: The body outline was on the couch. I didn' think of this until now: If he was a stab victim as well, wouldn't there be blood on the couch as well? Well, there wasn't. Now, here's what I'm proposing: What if, he was killed somewhere else."
The courtroom didn't even speak. They had never considered this! Just as Phoenix was about to claim victory, the prosecution just started clapping her hands, "Expertly done, Mr. Wright! You almost found out the truth. You are missing one crucial detail about this whole thing: Motive. What motive did he have for killing the victim?"
"Well, he-" And Phoenix stopped, dead cold.
"Well, Mr. Wright? Has it occurred to you yet?"
Phoenix was shocked. How could this happen...? "He... had not motive."
"And without motive, you can't convict someone." The prosecution put an end to that.
"But- what about the cloth with blood?!"
"Well, I can answer that." The guilty detective stood upright once again. "See, I was covering for a certain someone, framing myself."
"And who is this person, detective?" The prosecution asked, a smug smile slapped onto her face.
"... The former Defendant, Mr. Carson." The courtroom erupted. They couldn't believe this. To get them to settle down, the Judge assigned a 20 minute recess.
Phoenix was in the defendant lobby, holding his phone, thinking of what could've been different. Dammit Wright! You just costed a girl her life! If you were smart enough, you could've saved both your daughter and your friend! Phoenix was having this internal war, until his phone rang. He picked it up, not seeing who it is, "Hello?"
To Be Continued...
..
.
(30 minutes earlier)
Apollo and Athena got out of Achilles truck. They arrived at the police station, and were given an immediate briefing of what they needed to do. They both nodded, and headed out to the park.
Apollo sat on the bench, a backpack beside him, looking and observing. C'mon! Where is he...? He then saw a man, wearing sunglasses, walk in front of him. He wore a grey hoodie and black sweatpants. He circled twice, before sitting down.
"You got the money?" He asked in a deep, grumbly voice.
"Yeah, it's right here." Apollo started handing him the bag, but pulled it away. "Where is she?!"
"Where's the little bitch? Oh! She's in a white moving van, you can't miss it. It's on the North side of the park." While he was doing this, Apollo activated his bracelet, looking for the smallest movement. When it got to the Van part, he saw his eyebrow twitch in an un-usual way. He noted it, as he handed the man the bag. He slung it over his shoulder, and walked away. Apollo then reached into his pocket, and pulled out the walkie-talkie. "Athena, look for a white van. Be careful; he could've been lying. His eyebrow twitched a bit."
"Thanks Apollo." Athena answered through her ear-piece. She was already on the north side of the park, and started looking for a white van.
"See it yet?" Achilles asked form his HQ.
"Umm..." Athena felt queazy a bit, and nauseous. Where is the stupid van?!
"Athena?" He asked again, getting no reply. He tried again, and got no reply. "Dammit Athena!"
Athena took off her earpiece, She needed to think it through again. She knew they were smart, but they weren't liars. "Okay, let's think. They had to be lying about something about the van: The type, or..." Her attention was caught by a tow truck, moving a...
Athena sprinted to the blue Van, yelling at them to stop. She opened the door to the van up, and, inside, was a girl, bound up by ropes. She quickly went over to her, and started cutting the ropes. "Trucy?" The girl looked back to Athena.
Current Time
"Hello?"
"Phoenix, it's me, Achilles. We have your daughter. What happened in the trial?" Achilles never got an answer. Phoenix walked into the prosectors office, phone in pocket. She sat on the bench, waiting.
"Mr. Wright? What are you doing here?"
"I came here to plead Guilty in the Carson case. We both know that Yang nor the detective didn't do it. Give him a harsh verdict.
"My my, the mighty Phoenix Wright, the man that rose from the ashes, giving up?"
"It's... a long story."
"Hm. Fine, just let me do the talking."
"Okay." And with that, Phoenix walked back to his lobby, and entered the courtroom.
What happened next went by like a blur to Phoenix. The prosector went on to say that he surrendered the Carson Case. She told the Judge that both Yang and The detective were cleared, and went back to their lives again. The Judge asked Phoenix if this was true, to which he nodded. The Judge then banged his gavel, and court was adjourned.
Once he got out, everyone was already there. Yang, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake. They were all talking to him, hugging him as he went by. He didn't say a word, as he went out the doors, hoping she would be there. He stood out there, until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, to see a blue top hat. The one that has been missing. He didn't care, that day, to have people see him cry. HE hugged his daughter that day, the day they were reunited.
1 Day Later...
"Shh shh shh..."
"Quite, she's coming..."
"Heh heh heh."
"Shh!" Ruby opened the shut door, with all the lights turned out. She turned them on, and everyone sprang out at her. "Surprise!" They yelled to their team leader. Yang ran up to her, giving her a choking hug. "Awww! My baby sister is 16!"
"Yang... Stop... Choke...ing..." Yang finally let go, and the other 2 girls hugged her with much less force than the blonde brawler.
"Well, let's skip right into presents, kiddo!" Yang opened up to her here, which she nodded happily. She was never much of a cake eater. But a COOKIE eater, that's a whole 'nother story.
Yang went first, and once she opened it up, it was a little wall mount, for any type of thing she wanted to hang up: Her Crescent Rose, to a picture. Anything. She thanked Yang, and went on to Blake's present. It was A hand-made red bracelet, with all their names sowed on to it. Ruby thanked her as well.
When it came time for Weiss, she stumbled her words a bit, "Well... I..." She was about to tell the truth, when a knocking came to the door. Ruby walked up to the door, curious who it was, and opened it. "Hello." The stranger said, and it was a feminine voice. Weiss peered from behind Ruby to see a matured woman in the doorway, maybe around 30, and her dress reminded her of some picture, but she couldn't put her mind on it. "My name is Maya Fey, and I am a spirit medium."
"A.. spirit medium?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, we channel sp- here, let me how you." Maya offered her hand to Ruby, who took a second to decide if she trusts her.
"Ca- can Weiss go with me?" Ruby asked.
"I don't see why not." Maya replied with a smile. Ruby nodded to Weiss. Yang and Blake waved bye to them, and they went off. "So, do you guys know of any quite place here?"
Once they got to the gardens, Maya had them sit down. Maya sat across of Ruby, and Ruby had Weiss to her right hand side. "So, Ruby, is there anyone you have ever wanted to meet."
"Well... I guess the president, uh..." Ruby racked her brain.
"Anyone; it doesn't matter her state." Maya added.
"Well... my mom..." Ruby said quietly.
"Okay; what was her name?" Maya asked, closing her eyes.
"Summer. Summer Rose." Ruby replied strongly.
"Huh, Summer... Good name." Maya opened one eye and smiled, and closed her eye shut again. Her necklace started to glow a green color, and it became so bright, Ruby and Weiss had to look away.
When Weiss opened her eyes, she was confused. This couldn't have been the same person here before! Her shape, her face... is... changed...
Ruby finally opened her eyes, and double talked. In front of her, was a living and breathing picture. Ruby felt the tears stream down her face.
"It's okay, Ruby. You can come here." The voice responded. Ruby crawled on her knees towards her, not leaving eye contact. She got right in front of her, looking over her. She finally gave in, and started bawling as she hugged her mother. Her true mother. Summer Rose.
About 30 minutes later, Ruby and Weiss returned, not with Maya, though. Yang instantly took note that Ruby has been crying, as her eyes have been reddened. "Hey Sis, what happened?" Yang asked her sister.
"I got to see mom. My mom." Ruby replied, jubilee filling her words.
Team RWBY and Phoenix Wright kept in contact, just for small chat here and there. Their schedules were always conflicting, with the girls with school, and Phoenix with his trials. One night, though, Phoenix was sorting his files on his table. Once he got to his last one, he looked at it, and sat down at his desk. It was about midnight, on a Friday. Phoenix decided to only review the facts, and not to get to far into it.
Eventually, Trucy wondered in the room. "Dad, what are you doing? It's 3 in the morning." She asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Oh, just going over some facts Ru- I mean, Trucy. Go, get some sleep. I'll be in bed soon enough." Trucy was about to ask what he was going to say before he corrected himself, but couldn't find the energy to do so. She trudged back into her room, turning her light off.
Phoenix sighed, looking at the file. He needed to finish this tomorrow. Because of this case, someone was losing more sleep than she should. And he better find out the truth so she can rest easily now.
(The Real) To Be Continued...
A/N: Chapter done! This is the longest chapter to date (4,000 about words), as it was intended to be 2 chapters, but I merged them due to my up-coming schedule. See, I have a lot planned this coming month or 2, so writing will be scarce for me. Next chapter, maybe a month, maximum. But, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter!
Don't forget to Review, ask Questions, and, if you like the story, Favorite and Follow!
May God be with you this week.
~Nathan
I do not own Capcom/Ace Attorney, nor RWBY/Roosterteeth. All right's reserved respectively.