A/N: Picking up right where we left off: Everything is terrible! There is the smallest spark of hope hidden in this situation, waiting to be found. Enjoy, my readers!

April 28th, 2029

District Courthouse, Courtroom #4

11:40 p.m.

No matter how much Juniper called out, Robin didn't get back up, or speak. Just sat despondent on the ground.

"Robin's heart- it can't take much more of this!" Athena said, her own expression distressed. "She's going to break completely if this continues!"

"You're saying she's not already broken?" While the Judge had successfully stopped the audience from booing and throwing stuff at Robin, she still didn't move.

"There's something that Apollo told me once. 'Evidence is everything'. I think I understand what he means," Athena said. "This trial is stalled right now. We need evidence to keep things going!"

"I have saved the day! Well, Your Honor, why don't you let go that man that didn't do it," John said. "It's the right thing to do!"

"This is highly unorthodox," The Judge said. "But if the prosecution has no further arguments, then I suppose there's no reason to continue trial."

This is what Robin wanted all along. For Mr. Artisan to go free. Which is why… this case can't end like this! We need to see it through to the end!

"This court finds the defendant, Andres Artisan-"

"OBJECTION!"

Juniper took a deep breath. "Your Honor, we can't end this trial while there are unanswered questions remaining. For example, Miss Sapling never properly answered the prosecution's last assertion."

"Miss Woods? Aren't you one of the good guys?" John asked. "Shouldn't you want the bad guys to be defeated?"

"Robin isn't one of the bad guys! In fact, she's looking for them too." Talking on John's level seemed like the best way to get through to him. "Please let her help!"

"I'm here, though. I'm the hero!" John said, stomping his foot. "In fact, I am going to prove just how much of a hero I am!"

"So if I understand correctly, you want to to testify?" The Judge asked. "I suppose there's no reason not to let you. I would ask if the prosecution wants to allow this, but we effectively don't have a prosecution right now."

-Witness Testimony-

John Kent: Everyone's hero

As you can see by my costume, I am a superhero!"John said, fluttering his cape behind him. "My superpower is helping people in need!"

"Thanks to Miss Woods, I decided to help the poor man being wrongly accused," John continued. "And to do that, I needed to defeat the villain accusing him!"

"And the poor girl that was hurt deserves to have her case solved soon too!" John exclaimed, raising a fist in the air. "That's why I'm here now!"

"So this is why I am everyone's hero. So you should listen to me, and end this trial!"

End Testimony

"I know this is just a kid. So that's why I'm trying my hardest to think of a delicate way to put this," Athena said nervously. "The most delicate way of telling John 'you're not actually helping'."

"I don't want to cross-examine John either. But what else can we do, Thena? If we don't, we won't solve this case." Juniper's words were belied by how her fingers were nervously entwining with each other.

"John, you really want to help people, right?" Juniper asked.

"Of course! There's nothing I like more," John said, cocking his head in a proud manner. "That's what makes me John Kent!"

"Well, why won't you help the prosecutor? They're a person too," Juniper said, speaking slowly and softly.

"That prosecutor woman is the villain! And heroes always defeat the villains!" John said, puffing his chest out.

"This is going nowhere fast," Athena said, her shoulders drooping. "How do we get him to change his mind about Robin?"

"I guess we make him see that we're all on the same side." Turning her attention back to John, Juniper said, "I'm grateful that you're trying to help, really! But we need to question Miss Sapling!" The witness in question was still at the stand, looking at John with a mystified look on her face.

"No! I am here to protect her! What if someone tries to hurt her for being here, stopping the villain?" John asked. "Her bravery deserves to be rewarded!"

If that's what he thinks, then… I may have to do something really cruel right now.

"Your Honor? I'd like the witnesses next statement to be added to the testimony."

"You look like this pains you, defense. But if it's necessary for the trial, I will amend the testimony."

Athena shot Juniper a sympathetic glance. "This is something I never thought I'd say, but time to break this kid's testimony. Should I do it?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I am the lead attorney." Even as she felt sick to her stomach, she did her best to call out, "Objection!"

"Woah! That word… is it supposed to be some kind of word of power?" John asked.

"I guess something like that?" Juniper said in an uncertain tone. "Wait, that's not the point! Um, you seem to believe that Miss Sapling is an innocent bystander. However, she's far from innocent."

"Wh-what do you mean? Ladies are always innocent! That's why heroes protect ladies!" John declared.

"Okay, this kid's attitude is already getting on my nerves," Athena said, Widget glowing red. "Prove to him what ladies can really do, Junie!"

"You've heard of the 'World's Collide' contest by this point, John," Juniper said carefully. "But what you haven't heard is who is in the contest. Skylar and Mr. Artisan were a team that were participating. However- Miss Sapling has not mentioned that she was in it too!"

"What? You were? Why didn't you tell me?" John asked, looking up at Dakota in shock.

"Right, you weren't here for the trial earlier. Well, listen here, kid," Dakota said, "It's true that I'm a participant. But that doesn't actually mean I did anything bad!"

"OBJECTION! Then testify to the court!" Athena demanded, pointing at Dakota. "Tell us exactly why you can't be the culprit!"

"Okay, I will! But once I do, y'all gonna regret harassing me so much!" Dakota said, glaring at the defense bench.

At the other side of the courtroom, there was still no sign of Robin.

-Witness Testimony-

Why I'm innocent

"As I testified before, I entered the raffle that Mr. Iraman was holding, and then waited in line for an autograph," Miss Sapling said, sighing in a dreamy fashion.

Then her expression became serious. "After the raffle, Miss Scribe left the stage of her own accord. That must of been when she went over to the private room!"

"The eyes of most people were on the stage, so it's entirely possible that someone could have snuck past the crowd and into that room! That's how the defendant murdered the victim!"

"So I never had the chance to get near the victim. I had nothing else to do with the crime after that!"

End Testimony

"Before we start the cross-examination, let's clear something up," Athena said. "If most people were looking at the stage, how can you be so sure that the victim went into the private room?"

"OBJECTION! Unfortunately, you of all people know that Skylar was in the room."

Slowly, unsteadily, Robin got back on her feet. Her expression was still troubled, but she wasn't shaking anymore. "In the private room, we found the victim's blood. So pending further evidence, we must assume she was in there at some point!"

"I completely forgot about that!" Athena exclaimed. "I really stepped into it, and the cross-examination hasn't even started!"

I think I see where you're going with this, Robin. Now that you've opened the way, I will walk down this path with my head held high!

"HOLD IT! You've mentioned that you've gotten a few autographs from Mr. Iraman. Um, so I was wondering, do you really need that many?"

Miss Sapling scoffed. "Now see, that's the main difference between you and me. Every autograph that he signs for me is beautiful and unique. So I will keep getting more until my legs give out from under me!"

"I don't see what this has to do with this case," Athena said. "You didn't ask just because you were curious, did you?"

"No, not at all! Any information is good information, right," Juniper said nervously. "So, I'm going to get more now!"

"HOLD IT!" This time, at least Juniper knew exactly what she was going to say. "The defense acknowledges that Miss Scribe was in that private room. But there's something you haven't realized."

Miss Sapling ran her thumbs over her overall straps. "What could that be? It's clear that-"

Juniper slammed her palms onto her bench. "What is clear is what you testified. 'Most people were watching the stage.' So yes, while it's technically possible that the defendant went into the room- no one has witnessed such a thing!"

"Dangit!" Dakota cried out, snapping her overall straps onto her chest.

"OBJECTION! Right now, that possibility definitely exists," Robin said. Then she shook her head. "That then begs the question- who did and didn't enter the room?"

"Wow! Now that I'm seeing Robin prosecute first hand, she really does go after every little scenario," Athena said. "You'd almost forget she's trying to lose!"

That's not quite right. From the very beginning, Robin had only been focused on one thing: uncovering the truth buried deep in this case.

"HOLD IT! Just to be clear, what exactly did you do after leaving the main hall?"

"Now, don't get ahead of yourself. You can't make me talk about my private business," Miss Sapling said.

"Da da da da!"

Next to her, John started humming a little tone to himself.

"HANG ON!"

John jumped, almost tripping on the milk crate he was standing on. "Is that another word of power, missy?"

"It is. It's a power that, uh, makes you tell me what you were thinking," Juniper said.

"Well, on that day, I did run into this pretty lady once," John said, looking up at Dakota. "She was helping out that grandpa!"

"Uh, that's enough, kid!" Dakota explained, reaching down to put a hand over John's mouth.

"Stop right there! This is a court of law!" Robin declared, pointing at her. "You can't stop a witness from testifying, even in they're a kid!"

The Judge glared at Dakota. "The prosecution is correct. Do not lay a hand on the witness again."

"Ugghh…" Dakota nervously played with her overall straps.

"So, like I was saying, an old man with a funny mustache was carrying some rolls of wallpaper on a trolley," John explained. "And one of them was really lumpy looking."

Juniper had a feeling that they were on the verge of a massive revelation. "Before you go on, was this the old man?" She showed him a picture of Mr. Solomon.

"Please don't do this…" Dakota said, sweating.

"Yeah, that's right!" John exclaimed. "And when he met with this lady, he handed her the lumpy wallpaper. It must have been to throw it in the trash!"

"John, I have one last question. Did the wallpaper look like this?" She presented the scrap of wallpaper that had caused so much ruckus in this case so far.

"No, stop! Please!" Dakota begged.

"It did! Wow, you know a lot! You must be very smart!"

"NNNNNOOOOO!" Dakota screamed, snapping her overall straps onto herself again.

John's words were followed by a heavy silence. As it stretched on, the smile slipped from his face.

"Did I… Did I say something wrong?"

"John, I'm sorry. To repeat something I said earlier- that woman next to you is not innocent," Juniper said. "That lumpy wallpaper- we have reason to believe that it hid the victim's body."

"Th-that can't be true! Why would she do that?" John asked.

"The only reason I can think of is that she wanted to help the real bad guy. So in other words, if you continue to help her-" Juniper pointed at him. "You're helping the real bad guy escape!"

"I… I…" John burst into tears. "I don't want that! I don't want the bad guy to escape!"

"Defense, I don't believe you needed to make the witness cry in order to make your point!" The Judge said.

"Ah! I didn't actually mean to do that!" Juniper said quickly. "I was trying to speak on his level!"

Robin slammed her hand on the bench. "So, I believe that proves the Mr. Solomon was an accomplice to the crime. It seems like Dakota was one as well. Then that leaves the most important question: who is the one behind them? After all, we've seen evidence that neither of them are the culprit!"

"The prosecution knows that this question can't be answered yet," Juniper said. "After all, Mr. Solomon took the fifth to avoid implicating the real killer. I have a feeling that this witness is going to do the same."

"That's right! You'll never get me to say a word. So you may as well give up," Dakota said, regaining a smug demeanor.

"Miss Sapling, the defense has one last question. Did you and Mr. Solomon order the tampering of the crime scene the other day?" Juniper asked.

"Tampering? What tampering? Neither of us were anywhere near the private room after the crime," Miss Sapling answered, scratching her head.

"Judging by her tone, she's not lying," Athena said, studying her holo-screen.

"Even still, that doesn't change that Miss Sapling participated in this murder. So she must answer for this!" Robin exclaimed.

"It seems we'll have to arrest this witness as an acessory to murder, as well as the previous witness," The Judge said. "But how are we going to proceed from here?"

"Simple. We need a witness that had the opportunity to see everything that happened in the main hall. And only one witness fits the b-i-l-l!" With a flourish, Robin declared, "The prosecution calls the person standing on the stage, Edward Iraman!"

"No! You can't call him! I won't let you!" Dakota cried out.

"I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter," The Judge said, shaking his head. "Bailiff, please escort her out of the courtroom."

Bailey arrived, grabbed at Dakota's arm, and dragged her away. As much as Dakota yelled and scratched at her, Bailey didn't so much as flinch.

"Finally, we managed to drag that guy to the stand," Athena said, hunched over. "But I have a feeling he's going to be a real pain in the butt."

"The court will now break for a twenty minute recess so that the prosecution can subpoena the witness. The defense would do well to prepare their case in that time."

"The defense appreciates the advice, Your Honor." At last… the true final battle of this case is going to begin!

To be continued

A/N: We are now officially halfway through this trial! Which means the entire second half is going to be dedicated to confronting the real killer. So get ready for that, everyone. See you next time! Please review.