AN: I'd like to apologize upfront to my readers on FFN. I said last chapter you could view the story cover, but due to the file size limit on cover images on FFN, I am unable to upload this story's cover to that site. Sorry about that!

March 25, 9:45 AM

District Court

Defense Lobby No. 2

"I'm sorry that we couldn't get more evidence for you, Phoenix," Athena apologized as they stood in the defense lobby.

"It's alright, Athena. You and Trucy did the best you could," Phoenix assured her.

"Your best isn't enough! We have to get Lena a not guilty verdict!" Webby shouted, making everyone jump.

"Webby! Calm down," Scrooge chided.

"You're really passionate about this case, aren't you? Widget is picking up a strong mixture of anger and sadness," Athena noted.

Webby looked down at her feet. "Sorry for yelling. It's just that… Lena was my first friend, my best friend, and we promised to always be there for each other. I just feel so useless right now."

"You're not useless, Webby. Daddy and Athena are going to need all the encouragement they can get to win this case," Trucy said. "So keep your smile strong and we'll see this through to the end."

"O-Okay," Webby nodded.

"Luckily for us, Violet did get use the Letter that Lena got along with this "Occult for Dummies" book," Phoenix said, holding up said items. "The letter doesn't have a signature, but I'm sure it could come in handy. And knowing the basics of magic in this world will help too."

"Magic. The easy way out of a situation," Scrooge shook his head. "It causes nothing but trouble in my experience, but I know that Ms. Lena wouldn't go so far as to kill someone with it."

"The trial is about to begin!" the bailiff called into the room.

"You guys better get off to the stands," Phoenix said. (We still don't know anything about who the defense is besides the name. Mr. Le Strange… what kind of prosecutor are you?)

[***]

March 25, 10:00 AM

District Court

Courtroom No. 2

"All rise for the trial of Lena Saberwing," called the bailiff. "The honorable Judge B. Fair presiding."

"Yes, it seems another murder has happened in our city. Such a shame," the judge shook his head. "Oh, and Mr. Wright! I didn't expect to see you again so soon."

"I'm here to defend Lena, your honor," Phoenix nodded. He looked over at the prosecutor's bench in confusion. "Huh? Where's the prosecutor…?"

The doors to the courtroom suddenly burst open as a flock of ravens swarmed into the room. The crowd all gasped as the birds converged on the prosecutor's bench, spinning rapidly before forming into the shape of an anthropomorphic crow. He had piercing yellow eyes and a sly smirk on his yellow beak, his attire consisting of a black suit with long coattails with a white shirt and purple vest underneath, a gemstone brooch completing the dark look.

(T-That was real magic we just saw…) Phoenix thought, already sweating from the man's entrance.

Lena shuttered from the defendant seat. "That guy, he feels… familiar somehow…" she muttered to herself.

The raven gave a chuckle before bowing to the judge. "Sorry for being late. My apprentice was just filling me in on the final details of this case beforehand."

As opposed to Mr. Le Strange, his hawk assistant simply walked into the room, taking a stand next to his teacher. (Athena was right. The hawk does look familiar) Phoenix thought.

"It's fine, Mr. Le Strange. Though do try to refrain from scaring the gallery next time you come in," the judge said, shivering a bit.

"Of course, Mr. Judge. My apologies," Mr. Le Strange said. He looked over at Phoenix. "So, you're the new defense lawyer in Duckburg? Allan le Strange, prosecutor of the dark arts."

"Phoenix Wright, defense lawyer of… regular arts," Phoenix replied, Athena shooting him an unamused looked. "And this is my assistant, Athena Cykes."

"Charmed. This studious fellow next to me is Taka Gin, my understudy from abroad," Allan introduced.

"An honor to face against new faces in the legal world, Wright-san," the hawk, Taka, bowed.

Phoenix and Athena shared a surprised look. "Taka? Like Blackquill's bird?" Phoenix whispered.

"I knew he looked familiar! Could he be this world's version of Taka?" Athena wondered.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Wright?" the judge asked.

"N-No problem here, your honor!" Phoenix said quickly. "Although… I did notice a lack of a detective on the case."

"Yes, the DPD's lead detective is out of town at the moment. She should be back by this afternoon," the judge answered.

"Oh. Good to know then," Phoenix said. "In that case, the defense is ready, your honor!"

"As is the prosecution," Allan said confidently.

The judge nodded. "Very well. Prosecutor Le Strange, your opening statement."

Allan snapped his fingers, making a piece of paper appear in his hands before reading from it. "At approximately 11PM last night, police received complaints from residents living near Beagle Junkyard that about a quote-on-quote "crazy light show" that was happening in the yard. Upon arriving at 11:10PM, two officers found the victim, Red Shirt Beagle, dead, his body crushed underneath a heavy safe. The defendant, Lena Saberwing, was also at the scene unconscious nearby."

"Koko de!" Taka shouted, tossing a ninja star at phoenix and Athena. The two yelped and ducked for cover, only for the star to harmlessly bounce off the back of the defense stand and magically poof into a photo.

"O-Oh, it's just the Crime Scene Photo…" Athena laughed nervously, placing it into the evidence list.

(That might be the fastest near-death experience I've had in a court case before…) Phoenix thought.

"As she was the only living person on the scene, Lena was taken into custody. There ends my opening statement," Allan concluded, giving a small bow.

"I see… If I may ask, why is Ms. Saberwing the main suspect? I hardly see how a girl her size could lift a safe," the judge questioned.

"She didn't lift the safe, your honor. She made it fall from a crane," Allan shook his head. "The safe was suspended in the air, and Lena simply… made it fall, with her magic."

"Hm, I see. Very unfortunate," the judge hummed.

"Lena also has a case of amnesia from the "light show" last night, so she can neither confirm nor deny that she is the one that did Red Shirt Beagle in," Allan shrugged.

"Objection!" Phoenix exclaimed.

Allan shuttered with a grin. "Oh, such firmness in your voice, Mr. Wright. Very professional."

(Ugh, why is he complimenting me on objecting him?) Phoenix thought. "Your honor, there is a possibility that Lena was not the one to drop the safe on Red Shirt Beagle last night!"

"I suppose that could be true, Mr. Wright, but isn't it a bit early to make that assumption?" the judge asked.

"Not if I have evidence to prove she wasn't at the junkyard alone that night," Phoenix said confidently, pulling out Lena's letter.

"And what's this?" the judge said.

"An anonymous letter sent to Lena last night, instructing her to meet at the junkyard for a magic duel," Athena explained.

"A magic duel?" Allan said in surprise. "Well then, I guess that explains the light show. It's just too bad that Lena can't tell us who she was dueling with, hm?"

Phoenix grit his teeth as Allan shot him a knowing grin, the prosecutor trying to rile him up. (He knows there's a possibility of Lena not being the culprit, but there's no evidence to tell us who else was there that night!)

"I see. Your amnesia hasn't done you any favors, Ms. Saberwing," the judge shook his head.

"Sorry Phoenix. I can't tell you anything else that letter didn't already tell you," Lena said sadly.

"Your honor, I'd like to bring in my first witnesses," Allan said suddenly, making everyone's heads turn towards him.

"What? Witnesses?" Webby said in confusion. "I thought it was only Lena and the other guy there that night?"

"Clearly if Red Shirt Beagle was there as well, it would be easy to guess that others had been around the junkyard as well," Scrooge hummed.

"Well then, this is surprising. You may bring in your witnesses, Mr. Le Strange," the judge said, banging his gavel.

In walked three beagles, each wearing a matching outfit consisting of a red shirt with the letter "B" printed on it, blue pants, and a green newsie hat. They were short, muscular, and skinny, respectively, though the short one seemed to be in charge of the trio (even as the bailiff brought out a box for him to stand on and look over the stand).

"Three witnesses? We've never had to interview three people at once like this," Athena said in confusion. "Is that even legal?"

"It must be in this world. And… as strange as it sounds, I think I may have done something like this before. In a dream, at least," Phoenix replied.

Athena gave a concerned look. "Let's not place all of our hopes on a dream, Mr. Wright."

"Witnesses, please state your names and occupations," the judge ordered.

"Big Time Beagle," answered the short one.

"Bouncer Beagle," replied the muscular one.

"Burger Beagle," said the skinny one.

"We are the Original Classics!" the trio said together, putting on tough guy faces.

"Original Classics?" Phoenix questioned.

"Yeah, the first and best of the Beagle Boys!" Big Time nodded.

"We're Ma's favorite," Bouncer said with a grin.

"And we's the ones that get things done around the junkyard," Burger finished.

(…Why do these guys seem familiar?) Athena thought.

"Witnesses, you are here to tell the court what you saw last night around 11PM," Allan stated.

"They're not seriously relying on the Beagle Boys for testimony, are they?" Huey questioned. "Those three are always causing trouble around Duckburg!"

"And they have a grudge against Lena- most of the Beagle Boys do after that time we crashed Ma Beagle's birthday party," Webby recalled.

"They're totally going to make her look bad whether they lie about it or not," Louie sighed.

"We just have to trust that Mr. Wright and Ms. Cykes can sus out the truth from their lies, lads," Scrooge said to the kids.

[Testimony: Fireworks in the Junkyard]

Big Time: "We were hauling tires in the yard last night when we saw something."

Burger: "There was a bunch of lights happening over by the excavator!" (Bouncer looked at him with a confused expression)

Bouncer: "Yeah, like a buncha fireworks were going off!"

Big Time: "By the time we got there, it was all over."

Big Time: "We saw that duck girl and what she'd done!" (Burger gains a nervous expression)

"Is that all you have to say?" Phoenix asked.

Big Time nodded. "Yep! We saw that duck girl kill our bro. No doubt about it!"

"Mr. Wright, you saw that I did, right?" Athena whispered.

Phoenix nodded. "Yeah, one of the witnesses reacted in a strange way while the other was talking. Their story might not line up with each other, meaning we can catch them in a contradiction!"

"You may proceed with your cross-examination, Mr. Wright. I'm very interested to see your work ethic in action," Allan said, shooting Phoenix a grin.

(I still feel uneasy when he smiles like that…) Phoenix shuttered. Turning his focus back to the case, the defense lawyer's first target was the shortest of the Original Classics. "Big Time, why were you three hauling tires?"

"Ma asked us to do it," Big Time replied. "She was gonna be real mad if we didn't have it done before sunrise."

"We were supposed to do it before sundown, but we got distracted by… other things," Burger said, his eyes shifting quickly to Taka, the hawk glaring daggers at the dogs.

"Were we supposed to all be hauling tires? I was the only one of us carrying the things," Bouncer questioned.

"Of course it was only you, Bouncer! I'm the ideas guy, and Burger is too small to haul a tire. It had to be you," Big Time responded.

"Hey! I can toos haul a tire!" Burger retorted.

"Would you care to test that theory?" Allan interjected, waving his hands and conjuring a tire into the courtroom.

The judge slammed his gavel. "Mr. Le Strange, please refrain from bringing foreign items into the courtroom!"

"My mistake, your honor," Allan said, dismissing the object. Burger wiped sweat from his brow, silently glad he didn't have to try and lug a tire.

"Back on topic…" Phoenix said. He pointed at Bouncer. "Hold on! What was that look you gave Burger?"

Bouncer scratched his head. "Huh? What look?"

"You looked confused when Burger mentioned lights happening by the excavator," Phoenix clarified.

"Oh yeah! I don't remember us having an excavator in the yard," Bouncer said.

Big Time slapped his brother on the arm. "Of course we have an excavator, you dolt! How else are we supposed to dispose of the bod- I-I mean, all the junk," he said with a nervous laugh at the end.

Phoenix shook his head. "No, I think Bouncer is right to be confused. You couldn't have seen an excavator over there, even if the junkyard did have one."

"Hm? Why is that, Mr. Wright?" the judge asked.

"Because of this," Phoenix said, showing the photo of the crane. "The magic duel was happening right underneath the crane where the murder weapon was suspended from. If the Original Classics saw anything first, it would have been this."

"Yeah, that's what I saw! The crane!" Bouncer nodded.

"Burger Beagle, please update your statement to match the facts, please," Allan said, looking a bit bored.

[Updated Statement]

Burger: "There was a bunch of lights happening by the crane!"

"Hold on! That's not the only thing I need you to talk about, Burger," Phoenix interrupted. "Don't think we didn't notice how nervous you looked when Big Time mentioned "that duck girl"."

"Hey, why are you picking on my brother, huh?" Big Time objected.

"You said something that caused a sudden spike in his stress," Athena explained. "We're just trying to figure out why?"

"I-I ain't neverous! You vultures ain't gonna get me to crack!" Burger shouted.

"Oh yeah? Then tell us: what did Lena do that you saw?" Phoenix asked.

"W-Well, we obviously saw her kill Red Shirt!" Burger said.

"WHAT!?" the Duck family shouted in disbelief.

"Order in the court!" the judge shouted, banging his gavel. "Mr. Burger, that is a bold claim to make. Would you clarify what you saw?"

"O-Of course I can!" Burger said.

[Statement Added]

Burger: "That duck girl picked up the safe and slammed it on Red Shirt!"

"Objection!" Phoenix exclaimed, making the three Beagle Boys jump in shock. "Sorry, but that's the biggest lie you've said so far!"

"You calling us liars!?" Bouncer growled, pounding a fist into his hand.

"You have to be with a statement as clearly false as that," Athena said smugly.

"According to the autopsy report, Red Shirt Beagle was crushed the by safe that was dropped on him by the cable being severed," Phoenix said, rifling through his evidence folder. "On top of that, this photo of the crane clearly shows the wire was cut, meaning that Lena couldn't possibly have picked it up to murder Red Shirt!"

"Objection!" a posh voice said. The court turned to Allan, the prosecutor wiping a speck of dust of his shoulder before assuming a sly grin. "Mr. Wright, I was hoping you wouldn't fall or such an obvious logical fallacy."

"How so?" Phoenix asked.

"You should know that your client is a known practitioner of magic. Therefore, it doesn't matter if she can physically lift the safe or not when a simple spell would do all the heavy lifting for her- quite literally, in this case," Allan chuckled.

"Of course we knew that already! But the safe falling from the crane is what killed the victim in this case!" Athena retorted.

"Is it?" Allan questioned. "How do you know the safe didn't fall first and Lena simply used magic to pick it up and kill Red Shirt afterwards?"

"I would never kill someone in cold blood like that!" Lena objected.

"But he was breaking the rules of a magic duel," Allan said.

"The rules?" Phoenix said, confused.

"It's right here in Occult for Dummies," Athena noted, pointing out a passage in the book. "It says here that a magic duel must have no witnesses or else the terms of the duel are null and void."

"And any trespassers are to be dealt with at the sorcerer or sorceress' digression," Allan said, grinning as his brooch glowed slightly. "Personally, I like turning people into toads. A fitting punishment and easier to clean up after."

(I really hope he's joking about that…) Phoenix gulped.

"Phoenix, this looks bad," Athena said nervously. "I didn't have a chance to inspect the junkyard. For all I know, the safe could have fallen and then been used as a murder weapon afterwards! I feel like such a failure right now…"

"Athena, we have to stand strong and smile," Phoenix assured his assistant. "Mr. Le Strange, I have to refute the notion that Lena could have picked up the safe and used it as a weapon."

"Do you now? And with what proof?" Allan questioned.

"Careful what you say next, Wright-san, or else I will punish you for your insolence," Taka warned.

"Save the penalties for me, Mr. Gin," the judge said.

"Don't worry, your honor, I'll give you evidence to back my claim," Phoenix said. He took the Occult For Dummies book and flipped through it a bit. "In fact… yes! Take That! This passage right here proves that Lena couldn't have picked up the safe!"

"It says in the book that all magic leaves an invisible "fingerprint" from whoever cast magic on an object," Athena said. "It's an advanced spell, but if you inspected the safe for traces of magic…"

"…Then I'm sure you'd find that Lena's magic is nowhere to be found in the safe itself," Phoenix finished the thought.

"Hm, a magic fingerprint? Is that something you could test for, Mr. Le Strange," the judge asked.

"It would be quick, your honor," Allan said. "And as a show of good will, I would like for Ms. Cykes to accompany me while I perform the spell to detect traces of magic. Just to make sure the defense doesn't accuse me of forging evidence of Lena's magic is found on the safe."

Athena gave a determined look to Phoenix. "Don't worry, Mr. Wright. I won't let this creepy magician get the better of me."

"Good luck, Athena," Phoenix said.

After a few minutes, the two came back into the courtroom with their findings. "Well, what was found?" the judge asked.

"It is as Mr. Wright said: no traces of magic were found directly on the safe," Allan admitted, giving a bow as his looked a bit glum. "The safe was only dropped once, and that was when the wire was severed."

"Then that means Lena didn't kill Red Shirt!" Athena said.

"Objection!" Allan shook his head. "Just because Lena's magic wasn't on the safe, doesn't mean she didn't cut the wire with her own magic. What this does mean, though, is that our currently witnesses are clearly mistaken by what they saw."

"What!? You're supposed to be on our side, pal!" Burger shouted.

"Yeah! The duck girl has gotta pay for what she did to our little brother Red Shirt!" Bouncer agreed.

"Ma didn't pay you big bucks just to side with those do-gooders!" Big Time growled.

The court went silent at that statement. "…Did he just admit to Ma Beagle paying off the prosecution for a guilt verdict?" Dewey asked.

"That tracks, unfortunately," Scrooge shook his head.

Allan gave a small laugh. "Sorry to disappoint you Beagle Boys, but Allen le Strange isn't one to be paid off, even by a known crime boss like Ma Beagle. I take my profession very, very seriously, and even if she paid a good amount of cash to have me on this case, I will do my job to the best of my ability regardless of any outcome she perceives as necessary."

"That's very noble of you, Mr. le Strange," the judge compliment. "But as for you Beagle Boys, I'm starting to think you being here has been a waste of this court's time."

"W-We were just doing as Ma said!" Bouncer said, sweating up a storm.

"Yeah, no one gets away with axing one of her boys!" Burger nodded.

"But in the court of law, no one escapes the truth, no matter how hard some people try and obscure it," Phoenix retorted. "My legal team will not rest until the entire truth of this case is brought to light, and criminals like you aren't going to stop us!"

"That was… actually pretty cool, Phoenix," Athena complimented.

"Agreed. a very noble goal to aspire to," Taka nodded.

Big Time gulped. "Screw this! Original Classics, let's scram!" With that the trio rushed out of the courtroom.

"Officers, stop those beagles!" the judge shouted, banging his gavel as a few officers ran after the Original Classics. He let out a long sigh. "It seems that those three were feeding us a false narrative this entire time."

"I'm sorry that my witnesses were nothing but a nuisance, your honor," Allan apologized. "Ma Beagle insisted on them appearing in court, and I had to take any witnesses I could get my hands on."

"It's alright, Mr. le Strange, but it appears that this case is back to where it started," the judge said.

"But we proved that Lena didn't lift the safe to kill the victim!" Phoenix said.

"You didn't prove she wasn't the one to cut the wire, though," Allan pointed out. "And yes, I took the time to inspect the wire for traces of magic as well, and I found two magical signatures on it, one of them being Lena's."

"Then it could have been the other participant in the magic duel!" Athena said.

"It could have been either of them, but unless you can prove without a shadow of a doubt that Lena wasn't the one to kill the victim or figure out who this second person in the duel was… Then Lena will have to be declared guilt of killing Red Shirt Beagle," Allan said. "And what a shame it would be to lock up a young sorceress. Such wasted potential…"

"It seems that we will get nowhere in this trial today," the judge stated. "More evidence will need to be gathered before I can come to a verdict. Mr. Wright, Mr. le Strange, court will reconvene tomorrow to continue this trial. If neither of you bring substantial evidence I will have no choice but to declare Lena Saberwing guilty. Court dismissed!"

"Phoenix, this isn't looking good," Athena said nervously.

"We just have to go back to the junkyard and try to find more evidence, Athena," Phoenix stated. "And it sounds like Ma Beagle wants this case over with quickly. If she really is a notorious crime boss, then I'm sure she's trying to cover up the true culprit as much as she can."

"Then let's not waste any time and prove Lena innocent!" Athena said with determination.

(This won't be my first time facing a crime boss, but I still need to be careful) Phoenix thought. (Don't worry, Lena, we'll prove who is really behind this murder next time we enter this courtroom. I promise!)

Author's Note

You know, it's been writing this story that's made me realize that Ace Attorney cases go a lot faster when you don't have to fumble through menus to find the correct answer or contradiction. Just a little thing I noticed.

We finally meet our main prosecutor, Allan le Strange! He's a raven with dark magic, and Lena thinks he seems familiar? Must be a coincidence or something. His assistant, though, is someone that Phoenix and Athena have met before, that being Taka, Blackquill's loyal bird! Here in Duckburg he's an full-on assistant and has a knack for throwing evidence at the defense. His last name, Gin, is based on Taka's name in the Japanese version of the Ace Attorney games.

The Original Classics are here to cause some courtroom misdirection, as well as implement the multiple witness system that was used in Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright and the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. It has been a while since I watched through Ducktales again, so if the Beagle Boys personalities were a bit off I apologize. They did highlight that Ma Beagle wants this case over with quickly, though, and that Allan le Strange may be a more charitable prosecutor than Phoenix is used to, if a bit creepy with his dark magic abilities.

Next Time will be the second day of investigation where we'll finally meet our detective character, which if you're a Ducktales fan should be obvious who it will be!