Ace Attorney: Secrets Beneath Secrets

Turnabout Betrayal, Part 17 (Deirdre)

Ms. Taikan smirked. "Alright. You caught me. I'm not Taikan at all. Name's Tora Yin. Killer extraordinaire. Nice to make the acquaintance of you scum."

"N-no way-!" I whispered. "Impossible!"

"It's very possible! It's the truth, as a matter of fact!" Ms. Starr exclaimed from the other side of the court.

"But I will say now that even if I was channeled the night of the crime, I was channeled after the murder occurred. I didn't commit the crime," Ms. Yin smiled. "And if you wish to accuse me, then present some proof! Evidence is everything in a court of law, after all!"

"TAKE THAT!"

Shield presented a small phone. "This phone is all the evidence that you need."

I stared at her in shock. "I thought you'd learned to not present evidence with no relation to a case by now," I told her. "I'm disappointed."

"This phone is from a good friend of mine. One Yuri Rinko. You see, yesterday, I spoke with one H.T. Annasc, more commonly known as Bal Gam. Ms. Rinko recorded the entire conversation to use as evidence in today's trial," Shield answered. "Just watch this video and all will be cleared up!"

-----

After the video was over, I was stunned into silence. "Wow," was the only word I could force my lips into forming. "I can't believe that..."

"Did you help out Mr. Gam in the crime?!" Shield exclaimed fiercely.

Ms. Yin began giggling. "And if I did? So what? I'm dead. You can't punish me. Taikan was just stupid enough to follow the instructions in that note and channel me that day. I just committed the crime as I wished to. It wasn't at all because Gam told me to. I did it of my own free will. Killing is fun, you know. You all should try it sometime. Make society collapse, so the norm."

"Lil! Can I strangle her now?!" Ms. Starr asked Shield.

"Stand in line, because I'm first!" Shield exclaimed.

"Now you know how I feel all the time," their little friend-when Nevada's at the Prosecutor's Office, she calls them 'Mr. Ma'-said.

"Grandpa much beard! Declare your stupid verdict or whatever you do already!" Ms. Yin roared.

"We must track down this so-called suspect first," the judge retorted.

"Please just hand down your verdict. We can find Gam afterwards," I muttered, rolling my eyes. I already knew that I had been defeated. There's no reason to delay my torture any longer. Might as well get it over.

"Let us locate the suspect first! He must confess in court before I will announce the defendant not guilty!" the judge yelled. "Bailiffs! Locate Bal Gam!"

The bailiff near the judge bench saluted and nodded. "On it, Your Honor!"

I played with my hair. It was probably red from my anger. I held up a small section to my face to check. My assumptions were all too correct.

"How did you get a confession out of Bal Gam?" the judge asked Shield and her little sidekicks.

"It's a long story. One that almost ended in me being hated by almost everybody I work with," Ms. Starr replied, a shockingly sweet smile on her face.

"O-okay then," the judge stammered. "We have the time. Please explain."

Ms. Starr frowned. "I plead the fifth. How we found the culprit doesn't matter as much as the fact that we found him."

"You sound like we forged evidence," Shield hissed at her.

Ms. Starr sighed. "Even so, we are not just announcing it in public! You might not get it, only knowing about this for a day and all, but people are not allowed to know!" She turned around and slammed her head against the wall behind the defense bench.

Shield sighed. "My bad."

Ms. Starr turned around, her head red from banging it against the wall. "Aw, it's alright! Don't sweat it! All is fine!"

"Will the defense please stop confusing the court with their idle chatter?" I questioned, becoming more and more confused by the minute.

Shield nodded. "My apologies, Prosecutor Moody."

"By the way, there isn't any reason to keep so quiet. I already know," I told them.

"I told her about when the project first started. So I guess there really isn't a need to keep quiet since His Honor knows through UC-1," Ms. Starr said to Shield.

Shield sighed and gestured to the gallery. "Gallery? People who aren't supposed to know watching our every move? People who might report about it for the local newspaper?"

"Oh." Ms. Starr began blushing in embarrassment. She stuck her tongue out jokingly.

"Why am I here?"

A bleach blonde man, who I assumed was this Mr. Gam fellow, approached the witness stand. He tossed his head to the side and smirked. "I hope this is over soon. I have other business to attend to. There's a little boy at the hospital who I need to speak with about his past," Mr. Gam announced.

"Polly told me what happened yesterday! I'll kill you for that!" Ms. Starr growled. Judging by her gaze, she looked ready to pluck his eyes out and feed them to her ducks. Her expression changed to one of entertainment when she faced me. "I'm a duck hybrid. I'd also be perfectly happy to eat his eyeballs." She winked at me.

VIOLENTLY UNCOMFORTABLE.

"Uh, anyways," I said, faking a smile as I tried to change the subject of conversation back to the case at hand. "Witness. Name and occupation."

"Bal Gam. Prison escape," Mr. Gam answered.

Ms. Starr looked mildly uncomfortable at hearing that. She began gripping her left wrist, as if deep in thought. I was only loosely involved with the project, so I wasn't sure of why she was uneasy. I'll flick through the case files later.

"Did you really commit the crime alongside Tora Yin?" I questioned.

Mr. Gam tossed his head to the side again, still smirking. He seemed to be the arrogant and cocky type. I frowned. I didn't like those people. "And if I did?" he asked.

"W-what?!" I asked, confused at his reaction.

"It's not like it matters. You shouldn't worry about me, but rather, the people I work with." Mr. Gam shot the court an insane glance. "The Under Cover Assassin."

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I swear I got so sidetracked while typing this by weird as heck Dangan Ronpa videos all over YouTube. If you're curious about what they are, then here's the list:

-KirigiriKirigiri JingJing

-Chihiro's a guy

-Rolling Ishimaru

-Super Dangan Popipo

Why are half of those Vocaloid songs and a quarter includes Kiyotaka falling on his face?

H E L P

-Digital