Rising Uncertainty

The Trial

The proceedings for O'Weigh's trial had began early in the morning and was dragging on far longer then Miles would like. His opposition, Indy Way, was making sure that the trial went on as long as possible to try and weasel his way into the hearts of the judge and jury.

The man was tall and thin with a haunting smile that could inject fear into anyone. He had beady, black eyes sunken into his pale, wrinkled face, which only made him look dead.

Miles sighed quietly and sorted his papers once again, nerves building in his stomach as he tried to adjust his game plan. He had been denied the ability to ask another witness to be brought into court and now he was preparing to question the accused. He was hoping he would have a little more time before he did that, but Way had made it nearly impossible by making the witness he wanted to call on seem unreliable and unstable despite him knowing she was not. Now, this isn't normally how court works, but this is the Ace Attorney world, so it works however is convenient for storytelling, which really threw a wrench into Miles' plan.

His thoughts were halted when he felt a familiar hand rest on his shoulder as someone leaned against his back. Miles knew immediately that it was Phoenix and relaxed a little.

"The judge accepted Franziska's whip as evidence, right?" Phoenix asked.

"Not yet. While it was submitted, he hasn't said a damned thing about it-"

"How can a whip be evidence in this case?" Maya interrupted, standing on her toes to try and read Miles' documents.

"There's video footage of O'Weigh grabbing it from Franziska's office and using it to choke another worker," Miles explained with a small grunt. "The video footage that had been taken when... It doesn't matter. The point is, there are copies."

"Can't that also implicate her for workplace violence since she uses it against other people?" Maya asked, finally giving up at looking at his papers.

Miles put down his pen in and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on. Leaning back, he rested his head on Phoenix's chest before answering her question.

"She doesn't actually hit anyone-" he stopped and glanced at Phoenix. "She's only ever actually hit one person. The rest of the time it's cracking it in the air to scare people and maybe hurt their ears. While it's rude and cruel to do, it isn't against the law."

"I'm no monster." They turned and looked as Franziska entered the room, crossing her arms. "They refused to have me as a witness. Apparently I'm "unstable" and "unreliable." Can you believe that?" She sighed heavily and sat down on a chair.

"Why are you here? You can't be in here- none of you can!" Miles pulled away from Phoenix and crossed his arms as he turned to look at the small group of people who had all entered the room. "You all need to leave. You'll see what happens when I do. Please don't make this case more difficult to win by snooping around."

"Miles, I genuinely just wanted to check up on you," Phoenix said with an earnest tone. "This guy has hurt you and your friends- I'm surprised that Way guy hasn't tried to pull a conflict of interest on you yet."

"He probably thinks that him being connected to this can help him win the case," Franziska scoffed out quietly.

"Maybe it'll be his big finally reveal so the jury won't trust you," Maya suggested.

This caused everyone to freeze as the realization of that possibility set in.

Miles' blood ran cold and he couldn't force his eyes away from the spot he had been looking at.

"I... I hadn't thought about that," he says slowly. He blinked a few times and looked over at Phoenix. "That could very well be what he's planning. Dear god, why hadn't I considered that before? I should have-"