Here we go the next chapter and we will be introduced to the Prosecutor to this case.
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this.
DM77's Ace Attorney Chapter 28
The Emperor Prosecutor
December 26, 9:44 AM, District Court, Defendant Lobby No. 2
J, Jaden and Hunter met up in the defendant lobby for their trial. J was curious who would be prosecuting the trial, J was hoping wasn't Blitzo but she didn't know any other prosecutors. But then Hunter tells them of a name who would be taking this case.
"Belos…?" J asked confused.
"That's right, Phillip Wittebane but he prefers going by Emperor Belos." Hunter said nodding "He's the best prosecutor there is. He hasn't lost a case in his 40-year career. He is an Emperor of presecution, J! An emperor!"
"Not a single case?" Jaden said surprised.
"He'll do anything to get a guilty verdict. Anything." Hunter tells them.
"Hmmm." J thinks and then said "Sounds like someone else I know, Hunter."
"Hmph." Hunter said looking away. But then he looks back with a serious look "You don't understand. I mean he'll really do anything. Emperor Belos is a man to be feared."
'That's quite a claim coming from someone who forges evidence…' J thinks mentally rolling her eyes.
"He taught me what it really means to 'prosecute.'" Hunter tells them.
"Wh-what?!" J said in shock.
"Just picture a prosecutor as vicious as me…multiplied by a factor of ten." Hunter said with a serious look.
"Ugh…." Jaden said now nervous. "So…so was he your teacher, than, Mr. Deamonne?"
"Something like that…he was the one who gave me the title of The Golden Guard Prosecutor." Hunter said nodding.
"And now he's trying to get you found guilty?!" Jaden said angry "What a creep!" But then he thinks "Oh, wait…Maybe he's planning on losing on purpose to help you out!"
"Not a chance…" Hunter said looking down sighing. "He hasn't lost once in 40 years. 40 years! He's as ruthless as me, times twenty!"
"That's pretty ruthless…" Jaden said looking down.
"Like I said. He's an emperor among prosecutors." Hunter said to them.
'I guess that's something like Terra was to me.' J thinks 'Speaking of Terra…' She looks to Jaden and said in a low voice "Um, Jaden?"
"Uh huh?" Jaden said confused.
"We could really be using Terra's help right now…don't you think?" J asked him.
"Oh…" Jaden said looking down. J looks confused and the boy said "I can't. Sorry. I tried, I really tried, but I couldn't reach."
"You couldn't 'reach'?" J asked confused.
"I think it's because I haven't been training." Jaden tells her. "My powers are weak again…"
"Oh, business proposal, what bad timing!" J said rubbing her head.
"I'm really sorry." Jaden said looking down. "I'll try my best!"
"I hope so!" J said nodding.
"What are you whispering about?" Hunter asked as he was unable to hear their conversation.
"O-oh, it's nothing." J said to him and saw the time "Well, it's time. Let's head in…"
Hunter and Jaden nod and follow her in.
December 26, 10:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom No. 3
Everyone had gathered into the courtroom, and the members of the court chatter until Maccadam, who was again presiding over the trial, bangs his gavel to quite them down.
"Court is now in session for the trial of Mr. Hunter Deamonne." Maccadam said.
"The defence is ready, Your Honor." J said but then looks at the man in front of her on the Presecutions bench.
The man was wearing a large white and brown cape with gold trim over a baggy gray tunic and black pants tucked into both his golden gloves and brown boots. He also wore a golden mask with two long upward-facing horns. He removes his mask to reveal a pale skin elderly man with long ash-blond hair and blue eyes. This was no doubt the one known as Emperor Belos who remained quiet eyes closed. He placed the mask on the bench.
"Erm, Mr. Belos? Is the prosecution ready?" Maccadam asked concerned.
Belos remains quiet until he said one word "Fool…" He looks to Maccadam and said "You seriously think that I would stand here were I not completely prepared?"
"R-right, my apologies!" Maccadam said unnearved.
'He's even got the Judge scared!' J thinks sweatdropping.
"Very well, your opening statement, please." Maccadam said cautiously.
Belos remains quiet before saying "Decisive evidence…A decisive witness…What else could possibly be required?"
"Ah…er, nothing of Couse. That should be fine." Maccadam said nervous "The prosecution may call its first witness."
"What's with this guy? Is he royalty or something due to having Emperor in his name?" Jaden asked looking dully at J.
"How am I supposed to fight against this?!" J asked worried.
"I call the detective in charge of this case, Detective N." Belos said.
'Okay, N's first…Let's see how this goes.' J thinks on that
Soon N takes the stand and stands at attention. Ready to answer questions.
"Describle the incident. Now!" Belos told him.
"Y-yessir!" N said a little unnerved.
'Detective N looks nervous…' J thinks on that.
"Er, please take a look at the map." N said as on the screen brings up an overview makeshift map of the Seadra Lake. "The murder happened late Christmas Eve, around midnight. There was one boat in the very middle of the lake." He said adding a boat in the lake "There were two men on the boat." He then points to the car in the image. "Now, there happened to be a man camping here on the edge of the lake."
N continues "At 12:10 AM, he heard two pistol shots. Then the boat started to move." He moves the boat in the middle of the lake to be with other boats by a small building "It went towards the boat rental shop."
"Hmm." Belo said thinking and as J adds the Overhead Map to the Court Record. He then said "Testify to the court about the arrest. Now!"
"W-w-wait! Mr. Belos…" Maccadam said nervous.
"Yes?" Belos asked.
"Actually, I'm the one that's supposed to be handling these proceedings…" Maccadam told him.
Belo chuckles and tuts wagging his finger and said "Wrong. There is only one thing you need to do here. You will slam down your gavel and say the word 'guilty.' That is your role!"
"Y-yes of course." Maccadam said nervous "You're quite right."
'No, he's not!' J thinks sweating worried.
N began his testimony on The Arrest of Hunter saying "A man called into the station around 30 minutes after midnight. We headed to the scene of the crime as fast we could. That's where we found Mr. Deamonne. Now, I didn't suspect him of anything at all." But…the next morning a body was found in the lake." N said sadly "So we had to arrest Mr. Deamonne."
"Hmmm…I see." Maccadam said nodding "Very well…"
"Begin your cross-examination, attorney. Now!" Belos said firmly. Maccadam was surprised by that.
J sighs and begins to cross examine N pressing the first one saying "Hold it! You recied a call from a 'man'?"
"Er….yep." N said thinking and nodding.
"But it isn't the man camping there?" J asked. "He was the one who heard the two gunshots, right?"
"Objection!" Belos said and states "The man camping and the 'man' who called in the report are two different people, obviously!"
"Different people?" J said.
"There were two witnesses!" Belo told her.
'Urk!' J winces at that.
"Their testimonies were quite similar however." Belos said thinking "Today I've summoned the man who was camping."
'The man who was camping…Todd Snap.' J thinks but it was like this for every time. She presses, N will answer and Belos will object not allowing J to find any contradictions in the testimony, but then she got to the fifth statement about finding the body saying "Hold it! Did you find any clues on this body?"
"A single bullet was recovered from the body." N said holding up the bullet. "He was shot through the heart…. fatally."
"Judge! Here's the bullet…It didn't strike bone, so it's shape is well preserved" Belos said as the Bailiff Purge Trooper takes the bullet from N.
"Very well. The court accepts the bullet into evidence." Maccadam said nodding and adds the Pistol Bullet into everyone's Court Record.
"Hold it! W-why is that?" J asked on the final statement about arresting Hunter.
"Well, we found the murder weapon in the boat." N said sadly.
"The murder weapon…?" J asked him.
"A pistol." N said sadly as he holds up an evidence bag with the pistol in it.
"Detective N…" Maccadam said looking serious. "That is a vital piece of information. Please revise your testimony."
"Right! S-sorry, Your Honor." N said nodding and changes the last statement to say "The murder weapon we found in the boat decisive evidence."
J presses this statement saying "Hold it! What about the pistol made it 'decisive evidence'?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" Belos said smirking.
'Ack! He has the same evil laugh as Hunter…' J winces in worry at that.
"There were fingerprints on the pistol found in the boat." N said sadly. "They were clear prints from Mr. Deamonne's right hand."
J was shocked by that and said "Wh-what?!"
The made the members of the court chatter at this and Maccadam bangs his gavel and said "Order! Order! So, Mr. Deamonne's fingerprints were found on the murder weapon?!"
"Y-yes, Your Honor." N said sadly nodding.
"Judge! This is the weapon in question." Belos said pointing to the gun N held up earlier.
"A-accepted into evidence." Maccadam said as the baliff Purge Trooper takes it and the court record is updated.
J looked at the description of the Pistol and noted something odd, it's description claims it was fired 3 times, odd wasn't there claims of it being fired twice.
Before she could object to this, Belos then said "Members of the court…We now have the pistol used in the murder. And the bullet found in the body!" He snaps his fingers and said "Detective!"
"Y-y-yessier!" N said nervous.
"Was the bullet found in the body fired from this pistol?" Belos asked him.
"Yes." N said nodding and explained "The ballistic markings on the bullet match the pistol."
"Hmm…" Maccadam processes this.
"Hey, J!" Jaden said smiling and asked "What does he mean, 'ballistic markings'?"
"Shocking!" Belos said hearing that "To imagine someone here does not know something as basic as ballistic markings!" He glares at Jaden.
"J! He's glaring at me!" Jaden said nervous.
"Tsk…. very well. I'll explain." Belos said but then added "Actually, Judge! You do it."
"Eh? M-me?" Maccadam said surprised. He thinks and then clears his throat and explained "Ballistice markings are like the 'fingerprints' of a gun. The barrel leaves distinctive marks on each bullet it fires. You can examine these 'ballistic fingerprints' to see which gun fired the shot. It's quite accurate."
"Indeed." Belos said nodding. "This leads to one, inevitable conclusion: the bullet found in the victim's heart…was, without a doubt, fired from this pistol." He snaped his fingers "This pistol which, as you may recall, was covered with the defendants's own fingerprints!"
The members of the court chatter in this, obvious believing Hunter was guilty. Maccadam bangs his gavel and said "O-order! Order!"
'This is bad…' J thinks worried. 'This makes it look like Hunter did it!'
"Well, Judge?" Belos said.
"I'd say it's almost decisive, yes." Maccadam said nodding. "Honestly, I could declare a verdict at this point. However…"
Belos chuckles and said "You wish to hear the witness speak, no doubt. Very well." He puts back on his mask "I am somewhat fatigued, and so I will take a brief break. I will call my witness after the recess. Which will last ten minutes. Judge!"
"Y-yes?" Maccadam said.
"What are you doing? A ten-minute recess! Now!" Belos told him.
"B-but, wait, I…" Maccadam said confused.
Belo snaps his fingers and said "Just bang your flimsy gavel and get on with it, Cybertronian!"
"Y-yes!" Maccadam said and bangs the gavel "Ahem. This court will take a ten minute recess."
'Who's running this court, anyway?!' J thinks at that sweat dropping.
December 26, 11:09AM, District Court, Defendant Lobby No. 2
As soon as J entered the lobby and met up with Hunter who was looking away, she immediately approached him.
"Hunter! What's going on here?!" J asked him. "Your fingerprints were on the murder weapon!"
"Uh…hmm…" Hunter lets out at that.
"And that foggy photo makes one thing clear…" J told him. "The only one who could have shot that man was the person in the photo!"
"True…" Hunter said.
"Was that you in the boat?" J asked.
Hunter remains quiet but then said "Yes. It was me."
"What?!" J said shocked.
"But…you must believe me. I didn't shoot him." Hunter said firmly.
"Th-then who did?!" J asked him.
"I…don't know." Hunter said.
"You don't know?! Weren't you right there?!" J asked confused.
"I heard a gunshot from very close by." Hunter explained "Then…the other man fell from the boat. I can't say why, but…I thought, at the time, that he had shot himself!"
"Y-you mean it was suicide?!" J asked him
"That's the only explanation I can come up with." Hunter said looking away.
"Huh…" J said and thinks 'How am I going to convince anyone of that?!' She looks to Jaden "Say, Jaden?"
"Huh? Wh-what?" Jaden said jumping surprised
"Any progress with Terra?" J asked.
"Oh…" Jaden said looking down. "Sorry. It's no good."
"Ugh…" J groans.
"I know…" Jaden said sadly. "I'm no good for anything, am I, J? If I can't call my brother, I might as well not be here, right?"
"No, of course not, I need you here!" J said to him. "I can see you're always trying to help out. Even if you don't actually help…it's the thought that counts, right?"
"It's okay J, you don't have to make me feel better." Jaden said sadly. "I don't know anything about trails, or defence…What's more, I'm a keyblade warrior who can't even contact spirits…"
"Aww, everyone has their off days!" J told him. "I mean, I've just been getting lucky larely…But you never know when my luck is going to run out!"
"Really…?" Jaden said sadly.
"W-w-whoa! J!" Hunter said all of a sudden. Looking firmly "Don't jinx this case any more than it already is! It's bad for my heart…"
"Oh? Oh! S-sorry…." J said and thinks 'Whoops!'
Soon it was time to head back in.
Well things are not looking good, hopefully Todd Snap's testimony opens up ways to place doubt on Hunter being guilty.
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