Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Courtroom Champions

by ShredderRex14

Phoenix Wright, Apollo Justice, and Athena Cykes return to the world of law! With a deadly new prosecutor's dark past, to a mall, to a church, to the boardwalk, and finally to a murder in the courthouse involving a mysterious terrorist's plot that puts everyone's fates in danger, only Phoenix, Apollo, and Athena can bring the truth to light! ('TURNABOUT FOR A PRAYER' COMPLETE!)

4. Turnabout Forever - T1-3: Mood Matrix

Earthcub12 Presents

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney ~ Courtroom Champions

-August 21, 10: 45-
-District Court-
-Courtroom No. 4-

The courtroom sprang into a chatter of gossip and judgement.

"Look at that witness, she doesn't know what she's talking about down there!"

"If she's so psychic, she can work around the evidence that lawyer is presenting… can't she?"

"Why would she stick around at that death trap!? What is she, crazy!?"

The Judge slammed his gavel, silencing the chattering. "ORDER!" He shouted with utmost force. "There will be no gossiping and judging of this witness! That is my job! Now then, witness, please continue your testimony. Specifically… why did you stay at the mall, and what did you see?"

Witness Rosie Flowers sniffled. "Okay… here's what happened…"

WITNESS TESTIMONY

"IT'S TRUE. I STAYED AT THE MALL THAT NIGHT."

"I THOUGHT I COULD STAY AND FIND OUT WHO THE CULPRIT WAS."

"SO I CREPT UPSTAIRS AND PEEKED INTO THE ROOM TO SEE IF THE MAN WAS STILL THERE."

"HE WAS STILL IN THE ROOM!"

"IT WAS CLEARLY THE YOUNG GUARD OVER THERE! ARREST HIM, NOW!"

"It… it was the defendant!?" The Judge cried out.

"HOLD IT!" Blurted Phoenix. "Witness! Is this face or your opinion!?"

"You underestimate me, Mr. Wrong." Rosie said, smiling. "I saw him, both physically and spiritually. To prove it… here it is!" Rosie pulled out a photo from her purse and showed it to the court.

"Wh-what's that!?" Phoenix asked nervously.

"I took a photo of the man who took Mr. Mann's life! Specifically, I took a photo of that defendant over there!"

"Whu….. WHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATT!?"

'WITNESS CRIME PHOTO' ADDED TO COURT RECORD

ITEM DESCRIPTION: Photo taken by the witness Rosie Flowers. On the photo contains the backside of the defendant, Steven Vaughan, on top of the already deceased victim. It appears his arms are reaching down near his neck.

"Witness!" Mr. Payne shouted. "Why did the court not get this evidence in the first place!?"

"Oh, calm down," Rosie said, arms crossed and looking away. "I was gunna give it to you. I was just saving this for a special time!"

"You… you can't do that!" Payne barked at the witness.

"What's the big deal!? You gunna arrest me now? I gave it to you guys! What's the deal over here!?"

"Witness," The Judge said, "the fact of the matter is you held onto incriminating evidence from the court. It does not matter the reason!"

"Um… guys?" Phoenix weakly said. "Could we, you know… get back into the program, please?"

"Hold on, Mr. Wright." The Judge responded. "The witness must be lectured, first! Now then…"

"OBJECTION!"

All eyes pointed at Athena Cykes. She slammed her hand on her stand.

"Your Honor," she exclaimed, "I wish to have a short therapy session with the witness here!"

"Th-therapy?" The Judge asked.

"Athena? What's up?" Asked Phoenix.

Athena stared at Rosie. "I can hear it, boss." She said. "Her heart. She's lying and her heart can't take it!"

"You can hear her lies? Her emotions?"

"I can." Athena looked back at Phoenix. "The static in her voice is ringing in my ears."

At this moment, Phoenix thought, (Remember what I said about Athena? The gift she has? How she can look deep into a person's heart and read their emotions? Well, it's happening now. Somewhere in this witness' testimony…)

Phoenix turned to Rosie Flowers, who began impatiently chewing on her flowers.

(…there's an unexpected emotion. That means one thing: she must not be telling the truth. And her TRUE emotions will prove that!)

"I'll leave this to you, Athena." Phoenix told Athena.

"Okay, Mr. Wright! You can count on me!"

Athena turned to the Judge. "Your Honor, may I have permission to undergo a brief therapy session?"

"Hmmm…." The Judge pondered this request. "Okay. I'll allow it. Continue, Miss Cykes."

"Thank you, Your Honor!" Athena looked at Rosie Flowers. "Ms. Flowers, do not worry. This won't hurt a bit. We're just going to take a look into your heart and find out what's wrong with your emotions."

Rosie grew silent. "HA!" She finally said. "I heard about you… Athena Cykes, is it? You're the one with that little toy. Very well. Go on. I guarantee you won't find anything."

Athena slammed her hands on her stand in anger. "WIDGET IS NO TOY!"

"YEAH! YOU STUPID, IGNORANT, LITTLE-!" Widget, Athena's robot counterpart around her neck said.

"Widget! No!" Athena barked, embarrassed.

"Ha ha!" Rosie chuckled. "Go on, then. Your scientific tools will NEVER beat the power of a psychic!"

"You wanna bet?" Said Athena, under her breath.

Athena clicked on Widget. A blue, hologram screen appeared before her. After a few swipes and clicks on the screen, Rosie appeared, along with her testimony – and her emotions.

"It's odd seeing this again." Phoenix commented. "I don't know why."

"You remember how to do this, right, Mr. Wright?" Athena asked.

"Yeah. I find a statement that I think has a contradictory emotion, then I pick out the emotion that doesn't match, right?"

"That's it! Let's get her, boss!"

MOOD MATRIX

"IT'S TRUE. I STAYED AT THE MALL THAT NIGHT."

DISPLAYED EMOTIONS:

-SURPRISE (LOW)

-ANGER (LOW)

SADNESS/FEAR (LOW)

"I THOUGHT I COULD STAY AND FIND OUT WHO THE CULPRIT WAS."

DISPLAYED EMOTIONS:

-SURPRISE (LOW)

-SADNESS/FEAR (MODERATE)

"SO I CREPT UPSTAIRS AND PEEKED INTO THE ROOM TO SEE IF THE MAN WAS STILL THERE."

DISPLAYED EMOTIONS:

-SADNESS/FEAR (HIGH)

"HE WAS STILL IN THE ROOM!"

DISPLAYED EMOTIONS:

-SADNESS/FEAR (HIGH)

-SURPRISE (HIGH)

"IT WAS CLEARLY THE YOUNG GUARD OVER THERE!"

DISPLAYED EMOTIONS:

-HAPPINESS (LOW)

-SADNESS/FEAR (HIGH)

-SURPRISE (HIGH)

"GOT IT!" Phoenix cried out. He looked at the witness and began rubbing his chin. "Miss Flowers. In your testimony, when you stated it was the defendant in the room, you had a hint of joy or happiness in that statement."

"Huh!?" Rosie could all but muster to say. "Wh-what do you mean!?"

"What I'm saying is," continued Phoenix, "why would you feel happy about seeing a murderer in a room? Doesn't that seem a little… strange?"

"Um… oh!" Rosie said, jumping. "I remember!"

"You remember?" Phoenix repeated. "Remember what?"

"There was… someone else in the room. It was another security guard!"

"Security guard…?"

"Yeah. He was the one that nabbed that sicko! Once I saw him… I felt so happy and safe! Justice would prevail, I thought to myself!"

"But what about the photo you gave to the court?" Asked Phoenix. The man projected Rosie's crime photo to the court. "Why is there no third party in this photograph?"

"He must have ran inside just as I took the picture." Rosie stated. "I'm not sure, he sort of came out of nowhere."

"A security guard that caught the defendant…?" The Judge said. "Is he the one that…"

"That is correct, Your Honor." Mr. Payne replied. "The 'security guard' is the Chief of Security that caught the culprit red-handed."

"Chief of Security!?" The Judge cried. "Is he here today? I would very much like to hear an accurate testimony from-."

"Shut it, gramps!" Rosie yelled.

"Wh… what did you just say to me, miss!?"

"I aint done here! I'm through when I say I'm through! You hear me!?"

"I… why, I oughtta-!"

"HOLD IT!" Athena interrupted. "Hold on, Your Honor. We're not done here quite yet."

"Huh?" Phoenix said to Athena. "There's more."

"We're getting there," replied Athena, "but there's still some more discord in her voice."

Phoenix peeked over and looked into Athena's screen and saw the static at 50% already. "Yeah." He stated. "Yeah, we're halfway there. Let's see what else we can dig up."

"Way ahead of you, boss. First, let me update the testimony."

MOOD MATRIX

I CREPT UPSTAIRS AND PEEKED INTO THE ROOM TO SEE IF THE MAN WAS STILL THERE."

DISPLAYED EMOTIONS:

-SADNESS/FEAR (HIGH)

"HE WAS STILL IN THE ROOM!"

DISPLAYED EMOTIONS:

-SADNESS/FEAR (HIGH)

-SURPRISE (HIGH)

"THE YOUNG GUARD OVER THERE WAS IN THE ROOM AND WAS CAPTURED BY THE HEROIC AND BRAVE SECURITY CHIEF!"

DISPLAYED EMOTIONS:

-HAPPINESS (HIGH)

-SADNESS/FEAR (LOW)

-SURPRISE (MODERATE)

-ANGER (MODERATE)

"GOT IT!" Exclaimed Phoenix Wright. "Rosie… when you stated the defendant was captured by the security chief… why the sudden anger?"

"Huh?" Rosie asked, flabbergasted. "Why would I be angry at the arrest of a psychopathic security guard?"

"I don't know, Ms. Flowers." Said Athena. "Why don't you tell us? Are you hiding something?"

"I… I….." Rosie weakly replied, her voice disappearing.

"I understand that you felt happy when you saw the murderer get arrested. It's understandable that you would still be frightened by such a traumatic experience." Continued Athena Cykes. "And I, too, would be surprised at the sight of the killer once again. But angry after he got arrested? Not sure how that works."

"I…. GGAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHGHHHHGHH!" Rosie screamed. "HOW DO YOU GET INTO MY HEAD!? HOW DO YOU DO THAT!?"

Athena smugly smiled at the irate witness. "Ha! Just a little basic psychology against a false psychic."

Phoenix slammed his hands on his desk. "Enough lies, you phony! IT'S HIGH TIME YOU TELL ME THE TRUTH!"

"OBJECTION!"

The courtroom went mute. Not even a fly could be heard. All eyes turned to Rosie Flowers, whose head was down. Her perfectly combed hair drooped down. Suddenly, the witness began to say,

"What… did you call me…?"

Athena opened up the Mood Matrix on her screen. "Boss! The discord is gone!"

"It is!?" Phoenix leaned over and saw the white noise in Rosie dropped down to 0%.

"You think… I'm some… petty hack?" Rosie continued, her voice dark and dead serious. "I'll show you… who's the hack!"

Rosie removed her purse and set it on the stand. She opened it and pulled out a large crystal ball. She set it on the stand and tossed her purse away. Rosie closed her eyes as she rubbed the ball and it began to slowly brighten. Next thing everyone knew, it began to float. Rosie opened her eyes as the crystal ball began to speak.

"WHO… DARES… AWAKEN ME FROM MY SLUMBER…?"

"Do not worry yourself." Rosie began to say. "It is me. I need your power."

"ROSIE… WHAT IS THE MATTER…?

"That blue-suited lawyer called us phonies. We must retaliate, quickly."

"YOU!" The crystal ball echoed. "WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO MAKE A MOCKERY OF OUR UNITED POWER!?"

"I… I'm sorry, but…" Phoenix said, "…who is this? What is this…?"

"I AM OTHER ROSIE." The crystal ball spoke. "AND YOU MR. WRIGHT… YOU WILL REGRET YOUR INSOLENCE!"

(Where do they find these freaks…!?)

"I SHALL NOW TESTIFY." Other Rosie said.

"Wait!" The Judge interrupted. "You-you were at the crime scene!?"

"BUT OF COURSE." Replied Other Rosie. "I SEE EVERYTHING. I AM ETERNAL. I AM THE SPECTATOR OF ALL YOUR MISERABLE LIVES. I AM OTHER ROSIE."

Mr. Payne began to go into a cold sweat. "Um… I…!"

"Hmm… I don't know." The Judge answered.

"I AM NOT SEEKING PERMISSION; I WILL TESTIFY AND I SHALL PUNISH THAT LAWYER FOR THE SINS HE HAS ACTED OUT THIS DAY!"

"We are inseparable." Rosie added. "We are one. We will win."

"Um… okay, then!" The Judge responded. "Your testimony, then!"

"HA!" Other Rosie replied. "ARE YOU READY, YOU BLUE HACK!? READY TO HEAR MY OPTIMUM TESTIMONY?"

(Whenever you're ready, 'Other Rosie'.) Phoenix thought with a determined expression. (Whenever you're ready!)

TO BE CONTINUED…