Ace Attorney (I'll come up with a real name eventually) [RPG]

[Blade]

-==IC: Annabeth==-

"HOLD IT!"

Annabeth felt a little awkward for shouting out like that so soon, but...

"What kind of motive does the suspect actually have?" She wanted to address that first, as she had a feeling this was a really important question.

[The Truth]

"Protecting his sister, pal! The victim apparently got in a big fight with him the day before he was killed, and during the fight he threatened to kill the guy's sister!" Gumshoe smiled smugly. "Bright loved his sister, so he took that real personal, pal. So he killed him!"


"HOLD IT!"
Pike Fischer slid in beside Annabeth. "Hello again, newbie! Pardon the intrusion, but I'm rather bored at the moment, and you looked lonely over here by yourself."

He eyed the detective. "There's something odd about that detective's last statement, pal." He smirked at his own bad joke.
"Detective, please add that statement to your testimony."

[Blade]

-==IC: Annabeth==-

Annabeth thought it over for a moment, but then nodded.

"OBJECTION!"

She smiled at Gumshoe, but was going to point out the issue there. "I have an issue with that... If he fought the victim the day before, and that was his motive, why would he have waited a day? Why would he have not killed the victim right then and there? It makes no sense that the Mr. Bright would let the victim go, when he could easily be left to assault Ms. Bright."

[The Truth]

Gumshoe started. "I...I never thought of that, pal!"

"CEASE!"

Izabel sighed. "Did you not take my advice, Attorney? Think what evidence I told you to take a closer look at."

[Blade]

-==IC: Annabeth==-

"This one." Annabeth said with a smile, as she moved to present the evidence of the handcuffs that had been found at the crime scene. She wondered what it could have meant, though...

[The Truth]

Izabel nodded. "The victim wasn't killed right away. Rather, a fight broke out, and Sunny knocked the unfortunate Mr. Toome unconscious. He then took Toome, who was still in costume, to the supply closet and locked him in there after handcuffing him with the prop handcuffs."

She shook her head. "At this point, he may not have actually planned to kill Toome. Just teach him a lesson about threatening his sister. Unfortunately...when he returned in the morning to let Toome out, he had suffocated."

"HOLD IT!"
Fischer slammed down on the desk. "What kind of supply closet is airtight?! He wouldn't have suffocated just from sitting in a closet overnight!"

"CEASE!"
Izabel smirked. "Indeed. Except there was something else in that closet."
She held up a piece of pink fur. "At first, I assumed this was from the Pink Badger. But when I was exploring, I saw the actual costume, and it was a different shade. So, what in a supply closet would cause the fur to be this color?"

[Blade]

-==IC: Annabeth==-

Annabeth inhaled, as she hadn't thought of the possibility that the fur might be different. She ran through the possibilities in her mind, and a chill went down her spine as her eyes widened.

Paint. She hesitated to voice her opinion, but knew that it would probably help... (in some way...) if she did so.

"Was it paint, by any chance? That could both change the colour, and cause a lack of oxygen..." She cursed herself mentally for biting the bait, but... she had to admit that she wasn't liking these chances; especially after knowing that she had to pass through the Saloon to get to the Main Stage.

[The Truth]

Izabel grinned. "Precisely. Poor Toome...Imagine being handcuffed, trapped in a sweltering fur costume, in total darkness, as your lungs slowly fill with paint fumes..."

The judge slammed his gavel. "P-Prosecutor Law! There's no need for such vivid imagery!"
Izabel kept grinning. "Sorry, your Honor. But that explains a lot, does it not? The handcuffs were doubtless damaged in his struggle to escape, but by the time they were off, he was too weakened by lack of oxygen to do anything at all."
She shook her head. "I'm sure Sunny Bright was horrified when he arrived the next morning. His attempt to intimidate his sister's harasser had led to the man's death. He must have been panicked. But luckily for him, he was there early...he hid the handcuffs, cleared out the closet, and dragged the body away to dispose of it. But before he could, Asute discovered the body." She smirked. "I'd say that 'paints' quite a plausible picture, no?" She chuckled. "By the way, a spilled can of pink paint was found in the supply closet. It's a brand known to give of some truly nasty gasses." She grinned cruelly at Annabeth. "If you'd like to change your plea to 'accidental murder' and hope for a lesser sentence, now's your chance, Defense."

Fischer frowned. "You could certainly try to lower his sentence...but is that really the right verdict?" He turned to Annabeth. "How much faith do you have in your client? Will you argue for accidental murder? Or press on for a Not Guilty?"

[Blade]

-==IC: Annabeth==-

Annabeth closed her eyes, as she tried to keep calm. There had to be something she was missing...

"I..." She bit her lip; she was taking a heavy risk here, but... "I believe in my client. We will not give in." The girl opened her eyes, an apologetic look to Izabel for not just giving in; but something wasn't adding up here.

[The Truth]

Izabel sighed. "Ah well. in that case...the prosecution would like to slightly alter its theory. Because Sunny Bright did not kill the victim by accident....It was, in fact, an exceptionally cruel murder. And when he was captured that morning, he was not merely disposing of evidence. He was planning to frame another for his crime!"
She grinned at Annabeth.
"The prosecution would like to call its next witness."

Fischer narrowed his eyes and turned to Annabeth. "Seems she's getting serious. Are you ready?"

[Blade]

-==IC: Annabeth==-

"I hope so..." Annabeth mumbled, as she raised an eyebrow. "Nonetheless, though... I'm not backing down." Her mouth curved upward; she had a feeling that there was something she was overlooking... but she would find it.

[The Truth]

Izabel smirked. "Very well then. This witness was a security guard at Gatewater Land, and witnessed the killer's attempts to hide the body."



Izabel nodded. "Witness, please state your name and-"

"WHIPPERSNAPPER!" Oldbag glared at her.

"I was getting to that! You don't need to rush me! Back in my day, people knew how to be patient! We wouldn't rush a lady who had just gotten up, oh no, we knew how to treat our elders! But you whippersnappers need everything now now now now now and it doesn't matter who you're dealing with, it's all about me me me. Now back in my day we knew how to treat a lady! 'Miss Oldbag' they'd say, 'won't you please share your wisdom with us'? But now you all think you know so much more than your elders, with your heads all full of ipeas and smart shoes and video games! When I was a lass we knew how to behave ourselves, oh yes, there was none of that newfangled technology whatsits to rot our brains! We knew how to have real fun! I'd go for long walks every day, and all the men would follow behind me, all of them wanting a chance to talk to me. Now you only talk to me when you need something! You whippersnappers have no respect for your elders!"


OOC:  Read Oldbag's speech as if she were talking as fast as humanly possible.

[Blade]

-==IC: Annabeth==-

"... Um..." Annabeth blinked as she barely kept up with what the security guard was saying. I'm not even sure what to say here, this is just... um...

[The Truth]

"I saw him, you know! I saw that young whippersnapper try to hide the body!"

Witness Testimony: Kids These Days

"I was at my station, reviewing the security videos from the previous day, when I see him! I'm sure it was him because he was wearing that thing. And he was dragging a Bad Badger costume! It had the victims body inside it, I'm sure of it! Of course I didn't know it at the time, why would I suspect that anything was out of the ordinary? But I should have known because he was acting so oddly, no 'hello miss Oldbag', no 'how do you do miss Oldbag', I daresay he didn't even realize I was there! That's the problem with you whippersnappers, always so focused on yourselves you don't even notice what's around you, now back in my day we knew how to pay attention! Nothing like this would have happened when I was a girl, oh no, we'd have spotted him and locked him up right then and there, we wouldn't have needed to waste an old woman's time with pointless testimony, we knew what we saw and we knew what we knew! But you young folk don't know how to think for yourselves so you need someone else to think for you, your heads are too full of all that modern nonsense and-"

"CEASE!"

Izabel looked about ready to cry. "Defense, when you cross examine this witness, please, please don't ask any pointless questions or we'll be here until doomsday."

The Judge nodded. "Indeed. Please try to stay on topic, defense. You may cross examine the witness."

[Blade]

-==IC: Annabeth==-

Annabeth nodded with a slight grimace at the rant that Oldbag gave, but something seemed off to her.

"It's nice to hear your opinions, Ms. Oldbag, but what 'thing' are you talking about,  that the defendant was wearing? I apologize for wasting your time, but every bit of information here will help, I promise!" The attorney gave the old woman a small smile. Although Wendy was a bit gruff, she didn't really... seem bad. In fact, Annabeth had to wonder, based off the mention of the greeting, if she was secretly lonely...

[The Truth]

"That horrid costume! Back in my day amusement parks had real mascots, not these badger monstrosities! And let me tell you those costumes are awful, I had to spend a whole day playing the Pink Badger, and not only was it hot and heavy but nobody even came up to me, I couldn't sell a single souvenir! Kids these days don't appreciate the effort put into being a mascot, they think it's all fun and games, but let me tell you it-"

"CEASE!"

Izabel looked agonized. "Cease, cease! For God's sake, cease before I become a murderer myself!"
She seemed to pull herself together. "Anyway...Miss Oldbag, I believe this is what he was wearing?"




Oldbag nodded. "Exactly! That ridiculous Blue Badger costume! He played that role in the stage show, even though poor Toome was a much better choice, but because Asute didn't like him he forced him to play the Bad Badger instead and never get any popularity, and that's just wrong, because even if he was a rotten donut thief he was a darned sight better actor than Sunny! But nobody ever asks my opinion, no, nobody wants to hear Oldbag's opinions, you youngster's don't understand the wisdom of your elders, no, you-"

"CEASE!"

Izabel groaned. "Thank you, witness, you have answered the question wonderfully. Please, stop answering the question now, or this trial will never end."
 

[Blade]

-==IC: Annabeth==-

Annabeth winced at the amount of talking Oldbag was doing, and felt bad about Izabel's situation. Something didn't seem to fit, however.

"Well, um, Ms. Oldbag, I know you recognized the costume, but isn't it possible that someone else was wearing it at the time that you saw the person? After all, the mask was on, correct?"

[The Truth]

"Are you questioning my woman's intuition, whippersnapper? Well let me tell you there aren't many people who can get those costumes, only a few employees have the keys to the closets that store them, and none of the other actors were there that day!"

Izabel coughed. "We tested the mask found on the stage for fingerprints, and confirmed it had a number belonging to the accused. No other fingerprints were found."
She held up the Blue Badger mask from the stage.

Oldbag blinked.

Fischer leaned over to Annabeth. "Seems the witness has noticed something unusual about that evidence...this might be an opening."

[Blade]

-==IC: Annabeth==-

The girl nodded, as she looked over at Ms. Oldbag.

"Is something the matter?" Annabeth asked, as she tried to figure out a way to work with this. "Is something wrong with the mask?"

[The Truth]

"That mask...That's not the mask he was wearing!"

Izabel started. "W-what?! But...this is the Blue Badger's mas-"


"You think I don't know what I saw? I may be old but my eyes are as good as ever! 'Eagle-eyed Wendy' they'd call me when I was a girl, and believe me I earned it! I could pick out a good man from across the dance hall before the other girls even had their eyes open! And I know what I saw: The mask he was wearing had pure black eyes!"

Fischer nodded. "Ah, I understand what happened here...Annabeth, take a look at this."


"Now...what do you think Miss Oldbag saw?"