The Battle for Erika! Gray vs Alice! Part 1

November 20 9:30 AM

Randall Court

Defendant Courtroom Lobby No. 10

"Alice...today is the day...I just want you to know...if you lose this case, I won't hate you. I will miss you alot. You were the one friend besides Liliana who stood by me even if we were apart for 3 years." Erika said.

"We won't lose. We can't lose! We will win and you will be acquitted of this crime you didn't commit. This may be only my second case to everyone's possible 5 or 6 cases..but I will do everything in my power to prove your innocence." I said and held Erika's cheeks with both hands. "I trust in all my clients...Trust in me."

"As if you're doing this case alone." Olivia walked up and crossed her arms. "I can't let you fight this battle alone, I refuse to let you hold this burden alone!"

"Olivia..?" I looked back.

"Head Detective Olivia..." Erika looked at Olivia.

"Mama!" Mari smiled happily.

"Take me with you Alice! If my hunch is correct, the real killer is out there! This injustice against the Ray Family will end." Olivia said and held up her hand as her Spirit Seals began glowing. "You will need all the help you can get! Even if I have to call upon the spirits!"

"First off why are you in a kimono?" I asked.

"This is the Official Medium outfit! It's professional so don't worry." Olivia said. "We should worry about the battle...This battle will be your hardest for now because you're fighting your own friend since freshman year of high school. You will have to try to stay professional because the police department will do everything in their power to get Erika declared guilty. Gray the Akuma Prosecutor and this isn't the only time you will be battling him in the court of law."

"You're co-counseling for Erika?" Sophia asked.

"I have to...ever since the first day Alice introduced her to me, I felt the happiness radiating off her. Now it pains me to see her suffering...and to see her being accused like this. I did my own investigating and found some evidence that was already submitted to the court. Anyway, it's time." Olivia said.

November 20 10:15 AM

Randall Court

Courtroom No. 10

The judge hit the sound block with the gavel once and the gallery got quiet.

"Court is now in session for the trial of Erika Ray!" The judge said.

"The defense is ready, Your Honor!" I said.

"The prosecution is ready, Your Honor." Gray crossed his arms and had his eyes closed.

"Very well! Mr. Dawn, your opening statement?" The judge looked at Gray.

"Revenge. That's all this case is about. Nothing more. Nothing less. Decisive evidence, decisive witnesses." Gray said.

"W-Well then! The prosecution may bring out its first witness!" The judge said.

"Prosecution calls the Defendant, Erika Ray, to the stands!" Gray said.

'They are already planning to press her..?! What the..?!' I glared.

'Calm down, Alice. This is only the beginning.' Olivia said via telepathy.

'EEP! You can read my mind?!' I answered back via telepathy.

'Yes, this is nothing compared what I can actually do. Anyway, take a few deep breaths...calm your nerves...focus.' Olivia said and slid documents towards me. 'Listen closely.'

Erika was at the stand and looked at Gray then looked away. Gray looked at her and picked up his coffee mug and took a sip of coffee.

"Name and occupation." Gray said.

"...." Erika didn't answer.

'Uh oh...I should give signals to make her talk so she won't be held contempt of court and sent to prison...' I thought then tapped on the desk in Morse Code. Erika noticed and sighed.

"Once again Ms. Ray, name and occupation!" Gray asked in an inpatient tone.

"Name: Erika Ray. Occupation: Junior Detective, Prosecuting Attorney, Defense Attorney." Erika said.

"I have a few questions for you. First question, did you kill Ace Detective Gregory?" Gray asked.

"No, I did not kill Ace Detective Gregory! I have no reason to kill him!" Erika glared.

"So if you had a reason to kill him, would you kill him?" Gray asked.

'Why is he going this hard at the start?!' I thought.

"Even if I had a reason to kill him, I would not kill him." Erika said and closed her eyes, crossing her arms.

"Even if he was the one who killed your little sister?" Gray looked at her.

"?!?!" Erika opened her eyes quickly and scowled at Gray. "What are you saying?!"

"Your Honor, I can link this case to a case Ms. Ray was investigating a year ago, The Murder Case of Natalie Ray. As you know, Erik Gregory and the Ray Family had some issues within one another. I'm pretty sure she killed Erik Gregory out of revenge for her father plus he might've been the suspect of who killed her little sister." Gray said.

"OBJECTION!" I said and looked at Gray. "I spoke to Erika about the issue! She said that the killer is still out there! Erik Gregory could not have been the killer of her younger sister!"

"Hmm...This is honestly one interesting case because from what I hear, this murder could be linked to what happened to the Ray Family years ago? Are you perhaps talking about the B.I. 11-19 Incident?" The judge asked.

"Yes your honor." Gray nodded.

"So you're saying that case is linked to this one? But that case has already been solved! How could the B.I. 11-19 Incident have any relation to the murder of Erik Gregory?" The judge asked.

"The defense might wanna answer that." Gray smirked.

'You snake...Why is he doing this..?! What is your motive Gray?! What is it!?' I scowled.

'Calm down! You can't make any accurate judgements if you're all riled up! This is what Gray wants!' Olivia spoke to me via telepathy.

I closed my eyes and calmed down. Erika looked at me and the court awaited my answer.

"...The B.I. 11-19 Incident holds relation to this case because some believe after Orion Ray lost his badge, Erika felt hatred towards Ace Detective Gregory. But that isn't the case!" I said.

"How can you be so sure Ms. Holmes?" The judge asked.

"Ace Detective Gregory was our mentor! Erika has no reason to hate Erik Gregory!" I pointed.

The gallery began making commotion as my point actually made sense. The judge hit the sound block three times with the gavel.

"Order! Order! Order!" The judge started. "So does the B.I. 11-19 incident even hold any relation to this case?"

"Yes it does, Your Honor, but I am not to talk about that side of the case...yet." I said.

"Yet?" Gray looked at me.

"For now, I will prove Erika Ray is innocent!" I said. "So Defense would like to call upon a witness!"

"Request granted." The judge nodded.

"Defense calls upon Riley Autumn to the stand!" I said.

Erika looked back and saw Riley walk through the door. She stepped away from the stand and sat back down in her chair. Riley then took the stands and looked at everyone.

"Name and occupation." I said.

"My name is Riley Autumn and my occupation is a Professional Photographer." Riley said.

"You may give your testimony, Ms. Autumn." The judge said.

~[What Happened The Night of the Murder]~

"I was at the lake taking pictures of the moon on the night of the murder. As I was taking my pictures I heard two men arguing then I decided to turn my attention to the two men. One of them pulled out a gun so I decided to take a picture of the incident. The gun was fired twice and the murderer spotted me and charged me...I took multiple pictures out of fear to capture the male's face...but I was knocked out and everything beyond that is blurry.." Riley said.

"Hmm..Very well. You may begin your cross-examination Ms. Holmes." The judge said.

"Ms. Autumn...you said you were taking pictures of the moon?" I asked.

"Objection!" Gray closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "This has no relation to the case."

"Objection sustained." The judge nodded.

"You also said you heard two men arguing at the lake correct?" I asked.

"Yes." Riley nodded.

"Did you perhaps hear what they were saying?" I stroke my chin thinking.

"With my own ears no, but I did have a recording of the argument on my phone." Riley said.

"Phone?" The judge asked.

"Ahh this phone, Your Honor." I walked to the front desk and picked up the phone and turned it on. "I will now play the recording and we will find out what the men were saying."

I pressed play on the phone and the recording began to play and I held it against the microphone.

Erik Gregory: Why do you still hate me after all those years ago? I have nothing against you!

???: You did then and you ruined my life for me and my family!

Erik Gregory: Please Ray, forgive and forget. That was 14 years ago, I even tried to get your job back! Sherlock tried to help you and you rejected his help!

???: I don't care anymore...You will get what you deserve Gregory!

Erik Gregory: Wait it doesn't have to come to thi--

*BAM*

"The recording started at around 11:50 PM and ended at 12:30 AM. Both voices were obviously male and they were talking about something relating to the B.I. 11-19 Incident!" I said.

"Objection!" Gray opened his eyes and looked at him. "Yes two voices were heard, but it's not clear about who shot the man because first Riley said two shots were fired and two we found her with the murder weapon in hand!"

The gallery began chattering then the judge hit the sound block three times with the gavel.

"Order! I will have order in this court! I will kick people out of the courtroom if I don't have order!" The judge said. "Does the defense have a rebuttal?"

'You're worse than a snake you bastard! You know Riley is correct! You just want Erika in jail, but why?! What are you hiding?!' I set the phone down and closed my eyes. "Yes I have one.."

"Oh? But you also can't prove that there were only two people at the lake by that time." Gray smirked and shrugged.

"I can!" I pointed.

"Oh? Show us the evidence then Ms. Holmes!" The judge said.

I looked at the desk and noticed the picture was gone. I looked shocked and felt my heart drop.

"Tsk..tsk..tsk...if you can't prove it...it's best you go back and stay quiet." Gray said. "You can't win this Alice. We've been acquainted for a while, but even I know that you've been getting lucky. You just aren't ready to take on big cases like this."

'Hiding evidence..?! How low can you possibly go Gray?!' I walked back behind the desk.

"Hold it!" Riley pointed and reached in her purse.

"Ms. Riley? What's the meaning of this?" The judge looked at her.

"I have an enlarged picture! I figured a tiny picture like that might end up being lost in the files so I brought one just in case!" Riley said and handed it to Olivia.

Olivia then walked to the front and handed it to the judge and he showed the picture on the projector.

"Oh! There are only two men in this photo! But you can't clearly see the murderer.." The judge said.

"OBJECTION! If you recall her testimony, there were two shots fired! Who's to say the man in the photo is the actual killer, plus Riley only saw the two men AT THAT TIME! Plus we found the bullets at the site. One bullet in the ground. The second bullet taken out of Erik Gregory's head with clear ballistic markings of the murder weapon! The first shot obviously missed and the second shot was a direct hit! Erika Ray obviously had gun in her hand at the time we found her at the scene!" Gray said.

'The odds are literally stacked against me...' I said and leaned against the desk and gripped my hair. 'I'm so sorry Erika...I can't...I can't win..'

"We have one witness who saw the entire thing. His name is Wayne Ford. He will testify as well and bring this case to an end!" Gray said.

Erika crossed her arms and gripped her sleeves tightly. I was showing obvious signs of stress.

"Hold it.." I said.

"Yes Ms. Holmes?" The judge looked at me.

"I need some time...please...can we get a 10 minute recess..?" I requested.

"Hmm..you do look like you're about to collapse. Alright, we shall go on a 10 minute recess!" The judge hit the sound block with his gavel.

November 20 11:25 AM

Randall Court

Defendant Courtroom Lobby No. 10

"Alice, are you okay?" Olivia asked.

"Gray...he's hurting me.." I covered my mouth.

"Now you see the truth...he is a snake...he knows everything about us, he knows what makes us tick. He's found your weakness and his exploiting that weakness. He's harming you on the inside..just as he did to me." Erika said.

"I don't know what to do...I feel like my head is under water. I can't breathe and I feel like you're in danger..." I said and wiped my eyes.

"I hope you're not giving up.." A male voice said and walked towards us.

"That voice...papa?" I looked up.

"Father.." Olivia looked at him and held my shoulders.

"I can see what you're doing and Gray is using that against you. You're only trying to prove Erika is innocent, but that isn't how you fight. You limited yourself and now you're running low on ammo. He has a full arsenal ready to use. Alice fight how you know how to fight! You can't lose this because you've already gotten a BT." My father said.

"A BT..?" I asked.

"Breakthrough." Olivia said.

"You've proven how Gregory's death has connection to the B.I. 11-19, use that. And you may even figure out how Erika's sister died.." My father said.

Erika looked shocked and turned her attention to him. He nodded and closed his eyes. I sniffled and wiped my eyes.

"You are smart Alice...you can not give in and submit to Gray. His tactics...his tactics are wrong! Call him out! Use whatever you have to win! If you truly believe Erika is innocent, you have to play his game. Turn your sadness into anger and double down!" My father said and looked at me.

"Turn sadness into anger..." I wiped my eyes more and sniffled then regained my composure. "Thank you papa..."

He nodded and closed his eyes then walked off. I looked determined to get back into the battlefield once again. Olivia held my shoulders and smiled at me determined. I looked at her and nodded. This was it, I have to win this for Erika! Erika is the one I'm trying to save from Gray's grip. I had to also save myself from falling into his hands. I had to win no matter what.