9. Chapter 9: The Actor (1/2)

march 2018, prison entrance, 4:48pm

this girl sure loves to use the word 'fool'.

dahlia, along with most of the other inmates, watched the evening spectacle with amusement. the first criminal since acro had entered the prison. he wearing a

ight red racing jacket, matching trousers, gaudy shoes, and

own hair slicked back across his head. dahlia couldn't see his face, as he was cowering on the ground, hands protecting the back of his head, whimpering in pain. a woman, wearing more ridiculous clothing than the man, was in the process of whipping him to death.

'you foolishly foolish fool who foolishly thought he could foolishly escape justice! how dare you have your foolish assassin shoot me! when i get my hands on him, i will throw his foolish self into the cell next to yours. you fool!

she punctuated each 'fool' with a crack of her whip. dahlia was impressed with her stamina; nearly a hundred whips and she didn't appear to be slowing down at all. but dahlia thought she was holding back, as the whip wasn't drawing any blood. perhaps she wasn't allowed to seriously injure prisoners? it must still hurt like hell though.

suddenly she remembered acro's words of advice: all life is precious. she sighed and looked around. even the guards were enjoying the show, clearly not about to intervene. so dahlia stepped forward (her ankle had fully healed, so there was no trouble there).

'excuse me, why are you whipping this poor man?'

dahlia tried to say it with kindness. not the fake kindness she used to manipulate people into liking her, but with her genuine compassion in her voice. it sounded strange even to her own ears. the woman stopped whipping and looked up, annoyed at the interruption.

'i'll have you know this 'poor man' is a foolish-' she stopped mid-sentence, taking a closer look at dahlia, 'i know you. you are dahlia hawthorne, yes?'

'yes. and you are?'

'franziska von karma, prosecuting prodigy.'

'have i met you before, ms. von karma?' dahlia had no recollection of this blue-haired woman, but at least she'd stopped whipping the man.

'no, but i know you, dahlia hawthorne.' franziska responded, 'you were the witness in miles edgeworth's first trial.'

'ah yes, what a pleasant day that was.' dahlia said. probably not what a 'compassionate' person would think about the scene of a poisoning, but she couldn't help herself.

'not for miles edgeworth. he was a mess after that trial, because of what you did. i committed your fooish face to memory, and i vowed that if i saw you again, i would whip you unconscious.

normally, dahlia would have the guards arrest this woman for a threat of violence, but she had turned a new leaf. she was... 'kind' now.

'i'm sorry you feel that way ms. von karma, but as you can see, i am currently an inmate of this prison and will likely be executed soon, so i think i have paid for my crimes in full. now you've done quite enough damage, so would you kindly leave? the guards can escort you out.'

fransizka stared back at her, rage boiling just under the surface. but then she blinked, as if remembering something, and the rage melted away. she turned and walk away.

'very well. i must speak with phoenix wright anyway. i hope you rot in here, dahlia hawthorne.'

feenie? dahlia was about to call her back, but resisted her urge. the plan was set, and feenie no longer mattered to her. she watched the prosecutor leave the building and the crowd dispersed.

'that was quite a display of self-control, dahlia.' said a familiar voice. dahlia turned to see dee vasquez making her way through the crowd.

'thanks dee. i've decided to be nice from now on. it feels... strange.'

'i'll bet. hey matt!' she called out to the cowering man, 'the scary lady is gone. you can get up now.'

dahlia turned back to him. slowly, he got back to a standing position, holding onto his back with one hand. seeing his face for the first time, dahlia could tell he was once handsome, but not anymore. his face was covered in scars, and the wounds looked fresh, as if he tried to claw himself recently with his own fingernails. he was glancing around frantically, as if worried the prosecutor would jump out of the shadows to whip him some more.

'that bitch will get what she deserves when i'm out of here, dee.' the man named matt declared.

'yeah, let me know how that escape plan goes.' dee joked, as if talking to an old friend.

'so you too know each other?' dahlia asked.

'dahlia hawthorne, meet matt engarde. we used to work together. he's an action star that plays the nickel samurai. well, not anymore, i guess.'

'it's just a minor setback, dee. and it's a pleasure to meet you, dahlia.' he turned to dahlia and gave a dashing smile. she imagined that smile made a lot woman fall madly in love with him in the past, but on his now scar-ridden face, it didn't have the same effect.

'pleasure's all mine.' she shook his hand, 'i hope you have a pleasant stay here until you make your grand escape.'

'oh i won't be leaving anytime soon. i need to make sure that de killer is dealt with first.'

'de killer?' dahlia turned to dee, eye

ow raised.

'guess you haven't been watching the trials recently. i'll explain.'

and so dee told the story of juan corrida's murder, and how matt engarde was found guilty of the crime. matt listened to the story with annoyance; clearly he wanted to forget the whole ordeal.

'and that's what happened. still, i'm surprised you betrayed de killer. you know his reputation, he was never going to let that slide.'

'in my defense, he was never supposed to find out.'

'fair enough. well, it's a nice day out. think i'll catch some sun, maybe watch gant do some laps, so i'll leave you two kids alone. dahlia's the queen around here, matt, so try to play nice.'

with a wink to dahlia, dee left the scene. matt looked uncertain of what to say, now that their mutual friend was gone.

'well, why don't i show you around?' dahlia offered, trying hard to be nice, 'i can show you all the best hiding spots in case de killer shows up.'

engarde laughed nervously, as if the name of the assassin was enough to cause him harm. he took dahlia up on her offer and they toured the prison together. they visited the gallery, the cinema, and every other worthwhile area in the facility. matt was impressed that a prison could hold so many entertainment districts, and dahlia was happy to take credit for most of them.

on the way, they met many of dahlia's friends. frank sahwit, who seemed annoyed that another man had the nerve to follow dahlia around. redd white, who ran flamboyantly in the other direction when he noticed them. they checked out the pool, where gant was doing laps and dee was relaxing nearby. dahlia whispered an idea to engarde, who grinned. they both spat at gant as he swam by and ran away. eventually they ended up at the church, where morgan fey was praying as usual.

'hello mother.'

morgan stood up and turned to face them.

'nice of you to visit, dahlia. is this your boyfriend?'

'yes, a pleasure to meet you, ms. fey.' matt answered before dahia could, walking up to morgan. 'i hope i can be a worthy son-in-law to you.'

he raised his hand for morgan to shake. she simply looked past him at dahlia, eye

ow raised. dahlia shrugged.

'what can i say, i've fallen head over heels.' she said sarcastically, 'by the way, our little 'plan' will need to be put on hold for now.'

'what?!' morgan said icily, 'but you said-'

'i've had a change of heart. going to try being nice to people, live life to the fullest, blah blah blah. i'll let you know if i change my mind again. let's go matt.'

dahlia left the church, matt following close behind. morgan was shaking with anger.

'you'll regret this, dahlia! you're a demon, there's no chance at happiness for you! revenge is all you have!'

dahlia simply kept on walking, leaving morgan to scream alone in the church. eventually they were out of earshot, so she turned to face matt again.

'that's quite a mother you have.' matt said, grinning.

'believe me, i know. so what do you think of this place?'

'better than i was expecting.' matt answered, taking a look around. then he looked down, hesitated, as if he didn't know what to say.