Ace Attorney: Web of Mistrust

The Misled Turnabout, Part 3 (Hana)

"HOLD IT!"

I groaned and looked up. "What is it?!" I asked the defense team. Both of them looked at each other in confusion. The purplette shrugged.

A paper went shooting at my head, bouncing off my head and landing on the prosecution bench before me. I unfolded the page and read it to myself:

'NO'

I looked up to see a girl with her arms crossed above me in the gallery. She looked rather displeased and avoided making eye contact with me. The black haired girl winked at me. I guess she had been the one to throw the note.

"... The witnesses had informed me not to reveal their identities. I am going with what they said and keeping their names secret," I announced.

The defense team was madly whispering to one another. I could hear them quite well, though.

"T-that voice-" Ms. Jones started.

"No doubt about it," Ms. Tenniswood said.

"It would explain why they weren't at the agency yesterday," Ms. Jones agreed.

"Which would mean that the third is either-" Ms. Tenniswood continued.

"But if Prosecutor Bloom was there, it would probably be him and not her," Ms. Jones finished. The two nodded in agreement. I guess that they had figured out who the other witnesses were without my word.

"If we're ready to move on," I began. "I am ready to call my witness."

The judge nodded. "Very well. Call your witness, Prosecutor Bullgard."

"I wish to call the victim, Polly Bloom, to the witness stand!" I announced.

Prosecutor Bloom walked up to the witness stand, her head wrapped in bandages. Of all the people to be attacked by the defe-er, real killer, I didn't expect Prosecutor Bloom. She's the one who keeps everybody at the Prosecutor's Office sane, after all. Always so strong...

"Witness. Name and occupation," I demanded, trying to keep myself distracted from my worry fest over Prosecutor Bloom.

"Prosecutor Polly Bloom," Prosecutor Bloom said simply. She rubbed her head tiredly. I guess that she didn't end up with much sleep last night. Not that I blame her.

"Why did you call the victim?" the judge asked.

"This is the only witness that was even sightly willing to testify," I replied.

"My memory's a little jumbled, but I'll try and tell you what I know," Prosecutor Bloom said.

"I feel kind of bad for her," Ms. Jones began. "The last time she was testifying in court-"

Ms. Jones was silenced by a glare from Ms. Tenniswood. I looked away, not wishing to look at Ms. Tenniswood and her ultra glare. Maybe what the other prosecutors said about her icy stare was true...

"Is there something I'm missing?" the judge asked. "Does it have anything to do with-"

And cue another one of Ms. Tenniswood's icy glares, this one aimed at the judge. I guess I'd just have to look through the case files later to see what they were talking about... Note to self: raid evidence room and then ask Prosecutor Bloom about it.

Prosecutor Bloom also looked uncomfortable at this subject of the unnamed case. "Should I begin my testimony now?"

I nodded. "Please do, witness."

WITNESS TESTIMONY- POLLY BLOOM: DAY OF THE CRIME

-I was asked to come to the mansion by a letter.

-The letter said that I would come to Umber Mansion if I wanted... Erm... A trio of people to live.

-I did as told but brought a few people along for backup.

-After a brief chat over RB-7, I was attacked.

-I screamed feel unconscious. When I woke up, my backup team was around me.

"That's it," Prosecutor Bloom finished.

"Before we begin the cross-examination," Ms. Tenniswood began. "Could you please tell us who your backup team comprised of?"

Prosecutor Bloom hesitated before sighing. "Anton Burke, Cotoli Morix, and Chrysalis Starr. They were also the ones mentioned in the blackmail letter," she explained.

I looked back up to the black haired girl in the gallery who had launched the small note at me earlier. She still didn't look too happy. A blonde boy next to her whispered something in her ear. Wait... Was that...

Anton?!

"Shayla, it's okay. Calm down," he whispered to the black haired girl.

"I can't help it if this stuff happens too much. Man, my stupid plan sucks," the black haired girl, Shayla, if I had to guess, huffed. "Stupid."

The judge's voice brought me back to the trial at hand. "Now that we have that figured out, let's begin the cross-examination."

I looked to the defense team. They were whispering to each other once again.

"So our suspicions were correct," Ms. Tenniswood said.

Ms. Jones nodded. "Yeah. But why would they hide this from us?"

"Who knows? Maybe there's something they know that we don't," Ms. Tenniswood replied.

"Like the entire Oracle of the Law plot," Ms. Jones muttered, lowering her voice drastically. I was one of the few people who seemed to notice that she had spoken at all.

"Ms. Tenniswood! Ms. Jones!" the judge boomed. "If you are done with your chatter, begin the cross-examination."

Ms. Jones flinched at the judge's sudden outburst. Most people in the crowd had the same reaction. Prosecutor Bloom was still rubbing her head, not giving a care about sound volume. "Y-yes-" Ms. Jones began, stuttering. However, Ms. Tenniswood cut her off with a considerably larger amount of confidence.

"Yes, Your Honor. We'd be glad to," Ms. Tenniswood announced seriously. She didn't have even the slightest trace of emotion on her face. That girl is good!

"Then go right ahead. Nobody's stopping you," the judge prompted.

Prosecutor Bloom nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Let's get it over with. My head is starting to hurt."

//October 27, 2029. Umber Mansion, 11:11 AM//

"How's the trial going?"

"As far as I can tell, we look pretty close to a not guilty, Ab."

"Thanks. We can't have yet another misled verdict, can we?"

"Oh. You have no idea how misled this turnabout is going to be."

-----------------------

Why am I still awake

I'm typing this in a bed at my friend's house. I was supposed to be asleep 30 minutes ago man Dij go to bed

And in case you can't tell, Umber is a very important name in this story : )

-a now sleeping Digital