#tentatively calling my wip court of appeals

[muffinapologist]

Hey, hey, look at me. Look me in the eyes. Listen.

Ace Attorney au where everything is the same up to Turnabout Sisters at which point things go wildly off the rails and Redd White succeeds in getting Phoenix convicted for Mia’s murder

And theoretically Edgeworth should be satisfied another criminal in prison and his record is maintained. But something keeps bothering him about the case. And he convinces himself it’s the motive, they never figured out *why* Phoenix Wright would kill Mia Fey. (Spoiler alert it’s actually bc deep down he knows Phoenix didn’t do it and he’s got, you know, unnecessary feelings)

So he goes to visit Phoenix in detention, to ask him what his motive was. And Phoenix is like"You want my motive?" "yes?" "i'd love to tell you, really I would, but since I didn't fucking do it; that's kind of a tall order"

But Phoenix is also kind of in a bind because he’s in prison and Redd White isn’t and now White knows that Maya knows who he is. And Phoenix is worried she’s going to be his next target.

So he strikes a deal with Edgeworth. Edgeworth investigates Redd White (not for Murder but for his many financial crimes) and Phoenix will give him access to his entire life basically, his apartment, Mia’s office, etc, so that he can figure out Phoenix’s motive

Featuring (but not limited to):

Edgeworth’s slow descent into a morality crisis as he realizes Phoenix is innocent and White isn’t; therefore also throwing his previous cases into doubt

Maya and Miles worsties to besties with Maya helping Miles with his investigation with the goal of helping Phoenix and eventually bonding with him through their shared family trauma

Guilt nightmares and general spiraling

“Everything I’ve learned about Wright has been against my will” -Edgeworth, lying

Phoenix’s depressing personal life and Mia being Important

Edgeworth having Phoenix consult on the Will Powers case while in prison and Phoenix of course finding the key contradictions

Demon prosecutor Miles Edgeworth breaking his own perfect record by helping Phoenix file an appeal and being a proxy in his retrial

A surprising amount of April May character development as she turns on White and testifies in Phoenix’s retrial

Eventual wrightworth because you know how I be

[msbrooklynfanfic]

Chapter 17 WIP

Chapter 17

All of Barnes’ careful planning has gone completely to hell.

The plans were solid. Beautiful, even.

But now, they���re useless.

And it’s all Matt Murdock’s fault.

It might even be Professor X’s fault.

Or Magneto’s.

Barnes knows for damn sure it isn’t *his* fault.

The Ol’ Parker Luck? Well, that might be playing a part in things. Why else would Barnes be standing on the stage in the Midtown High School auditorium next to Principal Morita, Dean Reynolds and Mr. Harrington while they call an emergency meeting of the PTA to order.

Out in the audience are all the parents who refused to return Barnes’ phone calls or said they were too busy to attend meetings. All it took to get them here now was Matt Murdock and Professor X giving a press conference after today’s victory in court. Sure, Murdock’s heart was in the right place, arguing for the right of the students at Xavier’s to compete in Mathletes. Every news outlet was there to cover Murdock’s victory and get sound bites of him vowing to continue fighting for the rights of mutants even as the concerned parents of Westchester County vowed to appeal the court’s decision. Murdock fought the good fight and he won, which was nice for him and even better for the kids.

It’s not working out so nicely for Barnes.

Those parents look *angry*.

And they all seem to be angry with *him*.

“It’s your show,” Dean Reynolds whispers, attempting to nudge Barnes forward towards the podium.

Barnes looks out at the parents and then back at Reynolds. He’s faced friendlier-looking HYDRA agents. “Me?”

“You’re the PTA president.”

It’s the unspoken ‘you deal with them’ that gives Barnes the urge to flip off Reynolds. Flipping him off is probably a bad idea, though it’s not as bad as some of the other ideas Barnes quickly has and dismisses as he takes the five steps over to the podium. He reaches for the microphone and winces when it emits an ear splitting screech of feedback.

Everybody shuts up.

Barnes glances back at Reynolds, who gives him a little ‘go on’ gesture.

“Uh, hi, I’m, uh....Bu — uh, James B— uh... James Reilly,” Barnes stammers. He shouldn’t be nervous. It’s not like any of the people out there are armed or like he doesn’t know all the escape routes that will get him out of there before any of them get anywhere near the stage. The thing is, Steve is the one who gives the inspirational speeches. Barnes? He’s the one that shoots people. Not that he can shoot anyone here. Shooting parents at a parent-teacher conference would be bad. And oh dear lord, he’s rambling in his head like Petey. Barnes sucks in a breath, squares his shoulders and remind himself these people are unarmed. And he’s not. “I’m the, uh, new president of the PTA.”

So far, so good. Nobody is shouting him down or interrupting.

Barnes clears his throat. “So, uh, Principal Morita asked me to call this meeting because a lot of you called him about the mutant kids up in Westchester —“

“No mutants at Midtown!” One shout by a pissed off parent is all it takes for the entire auditorium to erupt. There are people shouting anti-mutant slogans, pro-mutant slogans and some of them are next to each other, glaring angrily as they attempt to drown each other out.

Reynolds comes up beside Barnes and hisses, “Do something.”

“Me?”

“It’s *your* meeting.”

Barnes narrows his eyes at Reynolds as he realizes the awful truth. This *is* his meeting. And it’s *his* meeting because Morita, Reynolds and Harrington were too afraid to take a position that might upset the parents. Upset parents would complain to the district, the district would complain to the school board and the city and they’d all end up out of jobs.

So naturally, they’re using him to do their dirty work.

Just like HYDRA.

Barnes turns to them and gives them his meanest Winter Soldier glare. The three men visibly pale and Reynolds even takes a step back. Satisfied, Barnes keeps the glare on his face and makes the microphone screech again. He doesn’t let up until all the parents have shut the hell up and are staring at him.

“Anyone who doesn’t have a kid on the Mathletes —*out*,” Barnes orders. He waits a beat and then barks, “Dismissed!”

There’s a moment of stunned silence and then a couple of parents start tentatively protesting.

“Everybody shut up!” Barnes orders. He can’t believe this is working and he knows if he looks over at Reynolds, Morita or Harrington, the spell will be broken and these parents will *destroy* him. “You! Pink sweater! What is it you think I need to hear?”

“My son is on the basketball team —“

“This meeting is about tomorrow’s Mathlete competition,” Barnes tells her. “You want to talk about basketball, baseball, or the fu — uh, freakin’ chess team, you show up at next week’s PTA meeting.” He directs his glare out into the audience. “That goes for all of you. Every single one of you demonstrated that you know how to call and e-mail and that you know where this school is. You all showed you can make your kids a priority for a night. So I don’t wanna hear any damn excuses about how next week’s PTA meeting is inconvenient, got me?! You got items for the agenda, you can e-mail me.”

Someone is going to call his bluff.

Someone is going to shoot at him.

Maybe one of these parents is a HYDA agent.

And then, unbelievably, they start leaving until just a handful of people are left.

Barnes hops down off the stage and beckons them over.

None of them are armed.

One of them is a friendly face, Mary Jane’s mother.

He can handle this.

“Harrington!” Barnes barks. “Front and center!”

Yeah, he’s got this.

For now.