A/N: In today's chapter, this case's first trial day will begin. First impressions are important for any main AA prosecutor. So you can bet that Robin will be giving it her all for everyone! Hugh and Juniper have quite the battle ahead of them. Enjoy, my fair readers!

February 24, 2029

District Courthouse, Defendant Lobby #2

9:50 a.m.

"Good morning, Mr. O'Conner. Good morning, Ms. Woods," Miss Moon said, delicately fanning herself with one of her hands. "Are you doing well?"

"I can assure you, Miss Moon, that Juniper and I are ready to defend you in court," Hugh said, putting on his most confident expression.

"How are you, Miss Moon? You're the one that's on trial today," Juniper said.

"I admit, I'm getting worse butterflies in my stomach than I do when one of my movies debuts on the silver screen. However-!" Starlight puffed out her chest, a defiant expression on her face. "I am a star! The moment I step out into court, the gallery will see a woman facing the charges with dignity."

"So you're putting your best face forward? Believe me, as an attorney, I know how that feels," Hugh said. "Now I'm wishing I had seen some of your movies before this."

"How about this? Once Miss Moon receives her Not Guilty verdict, we could watch her movies together," Juniper said, smiling. "We could even see her new movie when it premieres!"

"If you manage to pull me out of this mess, I'll personally see to it that you both get V.I.P. tickets to the premiere of 'Thrill of the Chase!' It's the least I can do," Miss Moon said.

"I am looking forward to that, Miss Moon."

Of course, first I'll have to face Robin in court again. I can't let my feelings over our unexpected reunion affect my defense. I believe in Miss Moon's innocence- and I will prove it in court!

February 24, 2029

District Courthouse, Courtroom #5

10:00 a.m.

Day 1

Court is now in session

ALL RISE

"Court is now in session for the trial of Starlight Moon." The Judge blinked in surprise at the name he read off the indictment. "That is your real name, right?"

"As hard as it is to believe, it is, Your Honor," Miss Moon said from the defendant's chair.

"I suppose if that's the name on the indictment, that's the name the court will use," The Judge said. "Are the defense and prosecution ready?"

"The defense is ready, Your Honor," Hugh said, adjusting his glasses. Standing to his left was Juniper, who was taking deep breaths to prepare herself for the trial.

"The prosecution is r-e-a-d-y, Your Honor!" Robin exclaimed, bouncing her finger playfully.

"Prosecutor Newman, is it? I feel as if it's been a long time since you've been in this courthouse," The Judge said solemnly.

"I've been out of this country until just recently," Robin said, her smile never leaving her face. "Don't worry about it too much!"

"Well, you are not the first prosecutor to leave the country for a period of time, and I have a feeling you won't be the last. If there's really nothing to worry about, I suppose we can move on with the trial," The Judge said, after much thought.

I don't know how to feel about the judge just brushing this off.

"Please give your opening statement to the court, Prosecutor Newman."

Robin took a miniature easel out from… somewhere, placing it on her bench before she then placed a sheet of paper on it. "The crime was committed two days ago. The scene of the crime was a movie set that is being rented out by Global Studios," Robin explained. "At the set, a movie called 'The Thrill of the Chase' was being filmed."

"And the defendant was an actress in this movie?" The Judge asked.

"As a matter of f-a-c-t, Miss Moon is the lead of this movie," Robin said, lacing her fingers behind her back. "The victim, Enuno Scene, was the male lead playing opposite to her."

"Hmm… do you believe that this movie is related to this murder?" The Judge asked.

"The prosecution does believe that this is related to the defendant's motive, yes," Robin said. "But before we get into that, we first need to take a closer look at the crime. I call the lead detective of this case to the stand!"

"Looks like the first witness is going to be Detective Syke. This is going to be our chance to get more info about the case we didn't get yesterday!" Hugh exclaimed.

Detective Skye took the stand, still holding her bag of Snackoos.

"So you've returned to this country as well, Detective Skye?" The Judge asked.

"And pretty much with no warning. But why let me have a consistent career? It's not like it's bad for my skin, or my sleep schedule, or everything else!" Ema proceeded to wolf down the chocolate snacks with ferocity.

"Just as I thought, Detective Skye is under a lot of stress," Juniper said, looking at the older woman with concern.

"Makes me wonder why they couldn't have just assigned a different detective to this case," Hugh said, watching as Ema emptied the entire bag.

"Looks like someone got out of the wrong side of the b-e-d this morning," Robin said, playfully wagging her finger at Ema.

"And it looks like someone is as annoyingly perky, as usual," Ema said, pouting as she turned away from Robin.

"C'mon now, Detective Skye! I need you to show me the results of your investigation," Robin said, grinning. "I want to see those forensics tests you seemed so proud of yesterday!"

At these words, Ema's eyes began to sparkle. For the first time, a smile spread on her face. "Well, when you put it that way, Prosecutor Newman, I suppose I can tell the court about my investigation."

-Testimony: Overview of the Crime-

"The murder happened two days ago, on February 22nd," Ema explained. "The victim was Enuno Scene, a twenty-five year old Latino actor."

"The scene of the crime was a film set that was being used to film a movie called 'Thrill of the Chase'," Ema continued, reading something off a phone she had with her. "And during a rehearsal, Miss Moon stabbed Mr. Scene from the front."

"Everyone that was present for the rehearsal fled the scene to get help for the victim. The director of the movie called the police. After that, everyone returned to the movie set."

Ema looked up from her phone. "And that's when Mr. Scene was discovered dead, with Miss Moon's knife in his back. When the police arrived, Miss Moon was arrested on the spot."

-End Testimony-

"Here is the defendant's prop knife. At least, it was supposed to be a blunt prop knife," Robin said, presenting a bloodied knife in an evidence bag. "But this is very much a real knife. Oh, and the defendant's fingerprints are on the handle."

Knife added to the Court Record

This all fit into the facts as Hugh knew them, and on the outset, it did look pretty bad. Yet at the same time, there was something that Hugh noticed.

"The defense would like to say that Miss Moon has never denied stabbing Mr. Scene in the front," Hugh said, not seeing a point in lying about this. "However, Miss Moon maintains that she did not mean to injure Mr. Scene, nevermind murder him!"

"OBJECTION!"

Hugh found himself rearing back. After five months, Robin's objection felt like it shook his entire body. Robin really did have a booming voice for someone so small. The grin on her face indicated that Robin knew exactly what kind of effect her voice had.

"So Miss Moon just happens to stab someone that then ends up dead, but she didn't do it?" Robin said. "That seems a little t-o-o convenient, don't you think? Of course, if you see a problem, you could always present evidence to counter the testimony. You do have some, don't you?"

In fact, Hugh had no such evidence, and Robin knew that he didn't. "...I'd like to cross examine Detective Skye now."

"That's what I thought," Robin said, still grinning.

There were no real problems with the testimony, as far as Hugh could see. That meant is was time to press for more information.

"HOLD IT! So do you believe that there are any 'aspects' about Mr. Scene that could have motivated the someone to want to kill him?" Hugh asked.

"If that's your way of fishing for information, you'll have to be less clumsy than that," Ema said, smirking.

"Gnk!" Hugh reared back, his glasses landing crooked on his nose. Hugh quickly readjusted them as he considered what he wanted to do next.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. We'll cover the defendant's motive soon," Ema said. "So just wait patiently for it."

Having been thoroughly chastised, Hugh moved on to the next statement in the testimony. "HOLD IT! The defense has been informed that Miss Moon was far from the only person at the scene of the crime. Have you questioned everyone present?"

"Of course I have! Who do you take me for?" Ema said, now glaring at Hugh. "The defendant's manager, the understudy that was present, and the director of the movie will all testify later."

"This is what we heard yesterday," Juniper noted, twisting her braids with her hands. "And they still choose arrest Miss Moon as their primary suspect."

"At the very least, the facts of the case are consistent so far," Hugh said. "We should keep this in mind. The moment someone tries to change their story, we can attack the contradiction right away."

For the moment, Hugh moved on to the next statement in the testimony. "HOLD IT! So when you say 'everyone', does that include my client?"

"We do have testimony stating that Miss Moon fled the scene," Ema said.

Ever since the testimony started, Hugh had a feeling that something was off. Now he was getting an idea of what it was. "In other words, Miss Moon was just as surprised by the victim's death as anyone else!" Hugh exclaimed, slamming his right fist onto the defense bench.

"OBJECTION! And that assumption is the central point of this case!" Robin yelled, clenching her fists. "The defendant would like us to think that she was just another innocent bystander in this crime. Once you consider Miss Moon's motive, however, it will all make sense."

"And will you be revealing this alleged motive to the court?" Hugh asked. After talking with Miss Moon yesterday, Hugh had a feeling he knew what Robin would suggest as a motive.

"As a matter of fact, I w-i-l-l!" Robin placed a sheet of paper in a mini easel. "I have here the testimony from Miss Moon's manager. Mr. Strong claims that Miss Moon had an argument with Mr. Scene the day before the murder."

"So it's true. Mr. Strong is testifying against Miss Moon. But why would he do that?" Juniper asked, clutching her hands to her chest.

"That's what I'd like to know," Hugh said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"So the defendant argued with the victim." The Judge said. "Do you believe this is a strong enough motive for murder?"

"It is when you consider what Miss Moon said during the argument," Robin said. "Miss Moon allegedly stated that she would show that she is as great an actor as the victim."

Hugh's eyes widened. "No, you can't possibly be implying-!"

Robin slammed her right palm onto the bench. "And that's what the main point of this murder plot is! Miss Moon wants to claim victory over Mr. Scene by killing him, then getting away with it using her acting skills!"

"So the prosecution is claiming that the defendant is putting on an act even now?" The Judge asked.

"We certainly can't eliminate the possibility," Robin said. "It's like the prosecution asserted previously- it's just too convenient that Miss Moon would 'accidentally' stab the victim from the front, but then have nothing to do with the knife in the victim's back."

"The prosecution's claim has been made clear. Does the defense have a rebuttal?" The Judge asked.

No matter how hard Hugh tried, he couldn't think of a rebuttal. He didn't believe that Miss Moon was the culprit, or that she was just putting on an act. But Hugh lacked the evidence to prove this to the court.

"Of course the defense has a rebuttal. But of course, I'm not surprised that the prosecution has not noticed the hole in their argument," Hugh declared, wearing his smuggest smirk.

"Oh, so you spotted a contradiction? I didn't spot anything!" Juniper exclaimed. "But I guess that's why you're the head of our office."

Now Hugh absolutely had to come up with something, even if he was deeply regretting deciding to do this bluff. "The defense would like the court to consider the last statement in this testimony. There is something about it that bothers me."

"What about it bothers you?" Ema asked, exasperated. "Everyone clearly saw the victim's dead body."

Wait, everyone saw the body? The more that Hugh considered this, the more that he was getting the feeling that something was in fact wrong here. "Then there is a critical question that needs to be asked."

"Oh? What question would that be?" Robin asked curiously.

"Did anyone actually see Miss Moon stab the victim? After all, if everyone saw the body, then surely someone must have seen the moment of the crime," Hugh said. As soon as he finished speaking, Hugh realized just what sounded odd to him about the testimony.

"Ah! Come to think of it, did anyone actually witness the moment of the murder?" Ema asked, clapping a hand to her cheek.

"Eh heh heh. So you spotted that, didn't you?" Robin said, still unphased. The prosecutor shook her head. "I admit, there are no witnesses that claim that they saw the moment of the murder."

"There aren't? Then how can you definitively claim that Miss Moon is the killer?" Hugh asked.

"You m-e-a-n, aside from the evidence that points to her and her clear motive? I'd say there is something that let's me make that claim," Robin said playfully. "And that's the witness testimony from none other than the defendant's manager, Emmett Strong!"

"I've heard quite enough! Now see here, Prosecutor Newman. Mr. Strong would never do anything to hurt my interests!" Miss Moon exclaimed from the defendant's chair.

"So even after working with Mr. Strong all this time, you really don't know the kind of man he is," Robin said, her eyes intense.

"What on earth do you mean by that?! Our professional bond is beyond question!" Miss Moon shouted, genuinely offended.

"There's no point for me to say anything," Robin said. "After all, we could always hear from the man himself. The prosecution calls Emmett Strong to the stand!"

This was sooner than Hugh was expecting, but now he was facing the manager on the stand. Much like yesterday, Mr. Strong showed no outward emotion. Right now, he was checking his watch.

"N-a-m-e and occupation?" Robin asked.

"My name is Emmett Strong. And my occupation is manager to the actress Starlight Moon," Mr. Strong said. Suddenly, Mr. Strong took what looked like a business card from his pocket and threw it in the air. He effortlessly caught it between two fingers. "And that occupation is one I take with utmost seriousness."

"Then why are you testifying for the prosecution?!" Miss Moon stormed her way to the witness stand, placing herself at Emmett's right. "I don't remember talking with you about this."

"I was asked to deliver my testimony in a professional capacity, and I am doing so," Mr. Strong said, his eyes glancing at Miss Moon.

The Judge slammed his gavel. "The defendant will return to her seat! And it would be appreciated if she didn't interrupt again."

"OBJECTION! No, it's fine, Your Honor," Robin said. "I had some questions for Miss Moon too. So why not have them both on the stand?"

"Really, Prosecutor Newman? Testimony like that is not unheard of, but it is unusual," The Judge said, his eyes widening. "What is the defense's opinion?"

In response, Hugh smirked and adjusted his glasses. "The defense has no objections. Testimony is testimony, no matter how many people are on the stand."

"Did you think of something, Hugh?" Juniper asked.

"Look at Mr. Strong and Miss Moon on the stand." Mr. Strong was being his usual stoic self, but Miss Moon was glaring at him next to him. "Miss Moon is very unhappy with Mr. Strong right now. I have a feeling that if we let her testify, she will let us know something that Mr. Strong doesn't want us to know."

"Still, I feel bad that Mr. Strong and Miss Moon are fighting right now," Juniper said, pulling her hat over her eyes.

"It is what it is. Our job is to prove Miss Moon innocent," Hugh said. "And as attorneys, we must explore every possibility we can."

"Go ahead and testify about what you saw, Mr. Strong," Robin said.

-Testimony: Emmett Strong's Account-

"I was observing the rehearsal in my capacity of Miss Moon's manager,

Carefully observing any area in which she can improve," Mr. Strong said.

"But there were no areas where I needed to improve!" Miss Moon butted in.

"Because I rehearsed my scene exactly as the director wanted me to."

"As far as I can tell, Mr. Scene was also playing his role," Mr. Strong continued.

"I noticed nothing unusual about how Miss Moon and Mr. Scene interacted."

"So then why are you suggesting I killed Mr. Scene?" Miss Moon demanded, shoving a finger into his face. Mr. Strong did not flinch to this.

"Because what I did witness soon after is you stabbing Mr. Scene," Mr. Strong said, pulling his visor over his eyes. "And I cannot imagine a motive for this but murder."

-End Testimony-

"Looking at the testimony, I don't see any obvious contradictions in this testimony," Juniper noted. "So are we going to press to find a contradiction?"

"Yes, and no. Were you looking at Miss Moon during the testimony?" Hugh asked.

"Whenever she testified, I did. I didn't notice anything unusual in her reactions." Juniper said, clasping her hands.

"Then it's time you learned something new about cross-examination, Juniper," Hugh said, smirking at the opportunity to show off.

As the judge said, it was not very often that multiple witnesses were on the stand. So the technique that Hugh was going to do was one that he never did in front of Juniper. "First, we need to look for a statement from Mr. Strong that seems fishy."

"As far as statements that seem fishy, I'd like to know more about Mr. Strong witnessing the rehearsal," Juniper said, playing with one of her pigtails while deep in thought.

"So Mr. Strong's second statement? I agree." Hugh focused on Mr. Strong and shouted, "HOLD IT! The defense imagines that you've attended plenty of rehearsals in the past. So you would know how rehearsals usually go, right?"

"That is correct, Mr. O'Conner," Mr. Strong said, glancing down at the watch on his wrist. "So I didn't believe that anything that my client was doing was unusual."

"There, Juniper!" Hugh said, pointing to Miss Moon.

"Miss Moon is… frowning, and tugging at her pearl earring," Juniper said, observing the actress. "But why is she doing that?"

"Why, indeed? We don't know yet, but what we do know it has something to do with something Mr. Strong said," Hugh explained. "That's the thing about testimonies with more than one witness- they can't help but listen to each other speak."

"Oh, I see what you mean, Hugh. So then what do we do now?" Juniper asked.

"It's simple. We ask Miss Moon directly." Hugh focused his attention on Miss Moon, then shouted, "HANG ON!"

"Don't do that!" Miss Moon shouted, clutching her chest. "It's bad for my health."

"My apologies, Miss Moon. But when Mr. Strong said there was nothing unusual with how you were acting, that seemed make you think of something," Hugh said. "Would you mind telling me what that is?"

"Well, as I've declared before, there was no flaw in my acting," Miss Moon said, tugging at her earring again. "But I'm not sure the same could be said for Mr. Scene. Which bothered me, because he's an actor without peer!"

"What do you mean by that?" Hugh asked, putting his hand to his chin. That statement alone intensely bothered Hugh.

"As a reminder, the scene we were rehearsing consisted of a climatic showdown between my character and Mr. Scene's character," Miss Moon said. "Yet Mr. Scene did not speak once during the scene."

"Eh heh heh. So that's what it is. If it bothers you so much, then I'll have that added into your testimony," Robin said, smiling innocently.

The sight of which caused Hugh to break out into a sweat. Uh oh. Looks like Robin is one step ahead of me. Still, I may as well push ahead.

If nothing else, Hugh finally had a contradiction to work with. Even if it wasn't from the person he expected the contradiction to be from.

"OBJECTION! Miss Moon, your statement doesn't sit right with me," Hugh said. "I picked up your copy of the script that was being used during the scene in question."

"Ah yes, I did ask you to get that for me… oh!" Miss Moon exclaimed, clutching her pearl necklace while breaking out into a sweat.

"Yes, the script also has the lines that Mr. Scene spoke… or rather, lack thereof," Hugh said, reading from the script. "Or to put it another way, it's not strange that Mr. Scene didn't say anything- because he didn't have any lines to recite!"

"Ahhhhh!" Miss Moon screamed, yanking her necklace so hard it broke, scattering pearls everywhere. Miss Moon pulled another necklace from within her dress and put it on.

"Just as I thought! Miss Moon was putting on a show for everyone," Robin said, wagging her finger at Miss Moon. "And she almost pulled it off, until that little slip up just now."

"What do you mean, Prosecutor Newman?" Hugh asked, cold sweat running down his face.

"I'll let Mr. Strong explain," Robin said, gesturing the older man.

"Simply put, the script was revised a few days ago," Mr. Strong explained, skimming through a notepad. "I personally gave Miss Moon the revised script."

The script was revised, huh? I'd better keep this in mind.

Script updated in the Court Record

"If that was the case, then why did you say that you noticed nothing strange about the rehearsal?" Hugh asked. Something in his gut was telling him that Mr. Strong was hiding something.

"Because Miss Moon and Mr. Scene did the scene exactly as the script outlined," Mr. Strong said, not even looking at Hugh. "So therefore, nothing strange happened."

"No, that's not right. I know that something was off with Mr. Scene. I'm can't put my finger on what it is," Miss Moon said.

"I think there's a similar explanation than t-h-a-t," Robin said, shaking her head. "Simply put, Miss Moon based her plan on the original script, and not the new one."

"OBJECTION! Why would Miss Moon do that? Mr. Strong just testified that he personally handed her the new script, and she followed it," Hugh countered.

"OBJECTION!" Robin slammed her hand on the bench. "Then answer me this. Why is Miss Moon insisting that Mr. Scene did something strange? The simplest explanation is that she expected him to stick to the original script!"

"Gah!" Hugh reared back, his glasses falling askew on his face. As of right now, I'm unsure if I have the means to prove what's really going on here.

"The problem is that we don't know exactly what happened during the filming," Juniper noted. "If only there was a way to confirm what really happened."

"And that's when I make my dramatic entrance."

Everyone looked around for the source of the voice- to find that there was now an unknown woman at the stand. The woman was wearing a large, black floppy hat, had wavy red hair, bright-blue eyes, and wore bright red lipstick. The woman also wore a shimmering black dress, which accentuated her svelte figure.

"And who is this?" The Judge asked, his eyes widening.

"How rude of me to not introduce myself. My name is Glinda Shine. I am a director, and the filming director of 'The Thrill of the Chase'." Miss Shine put a hand on one of her hips. "Which means I also filmed the rehearsal that happened on the day of the crime."

"Does that mean that you're here to submit the video of the rehearsal, Miss Shine? About t-i-m-e," Robin said, smiling.

"So Robin already knew about this. I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that she looked into this ahead of time," Juniper said.

"Which raises the question- just what are we about to see?" Hugh asked.

Because whatever is filmed in that video, it's going to change everything.

To be continued

A/N: Yup, I'll be making use of the crossover's "cross-questioning" mechanic. So expect court to get crazier than it usually does in Ace Attorney. Related: Where do you guys see this trial going. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Court continues next chapter. See you next time! Please review.