Jaune Arc, Ace Attorney
It was over.
He had failed Initiation.
It had already been a day, but he was still moping over the results, and deciding whether or not he should head back home to his family or not.
On one hand, he didn't really have anywhere else to go, and he would be running out of his meager supply lien that he'd brought along sooner or later.
On the other hand, he didn't really want to go back to the home he'd practically run away from, only to prove his parents right with such disappointing results.
Jaune sighed. He really didn't know why he had expected any better from himself, to be honest.
A fraud is as a fraud does, or so they say. At least, someone, somewhere, at some time had said that. Probably.
Still, getting ousted by Ozpin and Ms. Goodwitch had hurt, even if it was true that he had faked his transcripts. Thankfully, nobody on his team (or Ruby's team, for that matter), had known about it.
Small consolation though that may be, at least it was some consultation.
Not that he'd ever see them again, anyway...
Once again, Jaune heaved a heavy sigh as he walked along the dreary streets of Vale, caught in the gloom of his own depression.
(It was actually a pretty nice day in Vale, though.)
The clouds overhead began to loom ominously, as rain slowly started to settle in, pitter-pattering in light drops atop Jaune's head.
"Aw, geez," Jaune noted, "I forgot to bring any kind of umbrella with me."
Well, that was how his life went almost all the time, forgetting something or losing something half the time or the other.
Quickly, he took shelter under the nearest building he could, one that actually looked kind of fancy with all its elaborate stone pillars. Oh, but little did Jaune know, his decision to take shelter under that specific building would be a major turning point in the rest of his life.
Glancing at the top of the the building, the title of the building actually caught Jaune's attention for a little bit.
"Vale Judicial Courthouse, huh...?"
It was a strange choice of building to take shelter under, but it just so happened to be the closest one nearby. Shrugging, he decided to head inside.
Maybe he could ask someone for an umbrella or something.
"John Darc, calling for John Darc!"
Jaune startled upwards. Was someone calling for him...?! (He was usually called by the name "Jaune Arc", but back in his rural hometown at the edges of Vale, his family name was pronounced "D'arc".)
'What?! Are they calling for me?!' Jaune started to panic a little bit at the thought of it, 'Is this about my transcripts?! How did they know?! I thought Ozpin said he would keep the secret between us!'
Nervously, Jaune nervously trotted into the room they seemed to be calling him from.
"Ah there you are, Mr. Darc." An old man on the bench greeted him, "It's a little bit past the appointed time, but luckily the case hasn't started yet. Now, if you would please take your stand at the defense's corner...?"
"Ye-yes sir!" Jaune stumbled out, "I'll be here."
Jaune stood up as straight and unwavering as he could, stiff as a stone statue, on the defendant's stand.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The Judge stared at Jaune.
Jaune stared at The Judge.
The Judge coughed into his hand.
"Well, Mr. Darc, aren't you going to head over to the defense's corner?"
"...Am I not already there?" Jaune asked, genuinely puzzled.
The Judge raised an eyebrow.
"Are you - are you joking right now, Mr. Darc?"
"No-no sir!" Jaune replied immediately.
"Mr. Darc, that is the defendant's stand you're occupying at the moment. If you would, please head over to your right - my left, to the defense's corner."
"Oh! Ri-right! The defendant's stand. How could I have made such a silly mistake!" Jaune laughed it off like he knew what he was doing.
But he didn't.
Not at all.
'I could've sworn the guilty people stood there? At least in TV shows and such...? Well, then again, TV shows have been wrong about a lot of stuff...'
Jaune quickly stumbled over to the defense's corner.
"Mr. Darc," The Judge continued, "I understand that this is one of your first court cases and such, but if you're going to be stumbling over such basics, I fear that will not bode well for the rest of the case."
"No, no, your honor. I'm prepared! I'm composed! Honestly!"
He wasn't.
But Jaune did not want to get into anymore trouble right now, hoping that the judge would be lenient on him.
"Hmmmm..." The judge did not sound convinced at all, but he shrugged, and seemed to let it pass.
"In any case," The Judge declared, "Now that we are all presently assembled, the court case is to begin soon."
Jaune swallowed.
Hopefully, the judge wouldn't be too hard on him. Forging transcripts was a form of fraud, but it wasn't like he hurt anybody. Right?
"On the defense, John Darc."
Jaune nodded, absentmindedly, nervously lost in his own thoughts.
"On the prosecution, Headmaster Ozpin."
Jaune nodded again...
Until his brain actually started to process what he had just heard.
"Huh, whu..?!"
On the opposite side, at the prosecution's desk, Ozpin calmly took a sip of hot chocolate out of his mug.
"Headmaster Ozpin?! But...Huh? How?! Why?! Shouldn't you be at Beacon right now!? What are you doing here? How are you even here right now?!"
Ozpin looked at Jaune calmly.
Ozpin, however, didn't seem perturbed in the slightest.
"...Magic." He answered, wavering his hand in the air in an arc, semi-dramatically.
"Haha, real funny." Jaune replied, sarcastically. "But for real, how...?"
Ozpin took another sip of hot chocolate out of his mug.
"...Magic." Ozpin relied again, non-chalantly. "It's up to you whether or not believe me, Mr. Arc. As for why I'm here...Well, you'll know soon enough."
The judge cleared his throat.
"Please settle down, Mr. Darc, the case is about to begin shortly."
"But -"
"And as to headmaster Ozpin, I was also quite surprised to see him applying to act as the prosecution of a relatively minor civil case, but apparently he did have the proper qualifications, and the approval of the Judicial Council of Vale. And so, he was approved for the case."
"Yes." Ozpin commented. "It's been a few decades since I've acted as a public prosecutor, and the law has changed quite a bit since then. But doing something like this isn't so bad, every now and then. Helps keep the mind in shape."
"But...but he, I...what..." Jaune didn't even know what he was trying to say, so taken aback by the turn of events.
"No more interruptions, please, Mr. Darc." The Judge repeated.
"Ri-right...sorry." Jaune tried his best to keep calm, and to keep his voice down.
"Now then, as to the details of the case..." The Judge started up again:
"A few days ago, a fledgling huntress-in-training was reported to have waltzed into a night-bar late in the evening and started demanding information from the bar's owner and his employees. When the bar owner failed to meet with her demands, she suddenly started inflicting physical violence upon a number of the bar owner's men, and the bar owner himself."
'Wait...What...? That doesn't sound like anything I'm being accused for...?'
"And furthermore," the judge continued, "There have also been claims that in addition to heavy bodily injury to a number of his employees, the accused huntress-in-training has also caused grievous amounts of destruction and property damage to the establishment owner's property, amounting to a sum of approximately three hundred thousands worth of property damage worth in lien."
'Am I in the wrong room...?' Jaune thought to himself, 'But, but Ozpin is here...? And I thought there were were calling for me, right as I entered the building...?'
"Now then," the judge declared, "Will the accused, Yang-Xiao Long, please report to the defendant's stand?"
"Yes, sir." A certain familiar voice called out, entering the room.
"YANG?!" "
"Yeah, that's my name, don't wear it -"
Yang didn't quite finish, before she noticed Jaune's standing in the Defense Attorney's corner,
"Wait - JAUNE?! What are you -"
"Jaune?!" Another familiar voice rang out in surprise, this time from the audience's corner.
Jaune chocked upon realizing just who it was.
"Ruby...?!"
Author's Notes:
Dundundun...! Cliffhanger for now. The case will kick off next chapter. More ace-attorney-esque character tics next chapter, too.
Truby Wrose as assistant defense attorney next chapter lol. Always did think Trucy Wright looked a lot like Ruby. That was actually part of the inspiration for this idea.
Ozpin is just there to troll Jaune (lol). No, but he'll be a good tutorial boss for Jaune.
Then he'll disappear for three cases and show up as the final boss in the final case where the whole world of Remnant is suddenly at stake, and The Brothers Grimm will be the judges (before they get dragged down to become the accused as well). Bonus appearance by prosecutor Jaune and assistant prosecutor Ruby from another world as well, lol.
It'll be like a JRPG, where everything before the fifth case is relatively mundane, but then everything suddenly escalates exponentially towards the end lmao. Except Ace-Attorney style instead of JRPG-style.
If I ever get fan-art for this story, by the way; I'd love a picture of Jaune Arc in a defense attorney suit, shouting "OBJECTION!" while pointing, all ace-attorney style. That would be amazing lmao. Just send it by PM or somethin' lol