Fanfic / Mia Fey: Ace Attorney – The Fool's Turnabout

Mia Fey: Ace Attorney – The Fool's Turnabout is an Ace Attorney/Persona 5 crossover fic written by Snarky_Sociopath.

Mia Fey is a seasoned defense attorney starting up her own law office. One day, she gets a request from two high school students, Makoto Niijima and Ryuji Sakamoto. They come to her in the hopes that she would defend their friend, Ren Amamiya, after he was falsely accused of murder. With their help, she attempts to do everything she can to help defend the poor boy against the relentless methods of the case's prosecutor, Sae Niijima. The story follows them through their investigations and the ensuing trial to battle for both Ren's innocence and to stop Sae from falling down a corrupt path.

Tropes in the story include:

• Abusive Parents: Like in the game, Shido didn't care much about Goro, especially since he was born out of wedlock. He uses him as his own personal attack dog and plans to discard him simply because he didn't think he was useful anymore. It's no surprise that Goro kills him.
• Acquitted Too Late: An example that doesn't involve death. Ren was about to be cleared of the assault charges against Shido when the police realized that there was some corruption going on about him. Unfortunately for him, he was framed for murder before his probation could be lifted. Thus, his probation was revoked.
• Adaptational Dumbass: Ohya's credibility in this fic is much shakier in this fic than in canon. While she had a fall from grace there, this is not mentioned in the fic and she is Flanderized into a belligerent drunkard. She lacks the Intrepid Reporter side of her in favor of barging her way into places. She was able to track down Shido, but her idea was to barge in to get an interview which is odd since she knew he was corrupt in canon.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Sae's corrupt ways as a prosecutor are more intentional and ruthless than is implied in her game of origin. She behaves more like her Shadow in this fic. It helps her fit in as an Ace Attorney prosecutor. She is also much harsher to Makoto despite eventually showing that she cares about her. She gets better by the end of the story.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Ohya is a lot more belligerent than she is in the game. A commenter compared her to Lotta Hart.
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • From the anime, Ryuji has "Ren-Ren" for Amamiya.
  • Futaba calls Makoto "Mako-chan".
• Aloof Big Sister: When Sae first appears, she immediately treats everyone coldly, but she is also notably dismissive of Makoto. Makoto later expands upon this.
• Alternate Continuity: The author notes that the timelines of Persona 5 and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney both take place in 2016, allowing for there to be some overlap within the two games. However, they also note that some liberties had to be taken due to Mia's death in that game taking place in early September. It is implied that the Metaverse and the Phantom Thieves are a thing, although it doesn't seem that they've made it to Okumura. The only target mentioned is Kamoshida and that Futaba has stopped being as much of a shut-in as she was before.
• The Alcoholic: Ohya is even more of a belligerent drunk in this fic.
• Ambiguously Gay: Ohya seems to have an odd fascination with Mia's bust.
• Americasia: Notably averted. Despite the fact that the Ace Attorney characters keep their localized names and the one OC's Punny Name that is clearly Western, the fic is set in Japan similar to the anime. With Persona 5 being set in Japan, there was no way around this.
• Anti-Villain:
  • While Sae fills the Ace Attorney role of the Persecuting Prosecutor, just like many of them, she is not an inherently bad person. The stress of raising Makoto on her own, along with having to deal with the stresses of her job, drove her to the state of the Amoral Attorney she is.
  • Akechi. Despite the heinous actions he committed both for his father and for framing Ren, he wanted to make sure that Shido was stopped. He couldn't trust anyone after being abandoned so many times in his life and he only wanted true friends like Ren. Mia acknowledges that he's just a sad kid in the end.
• Artistic License – Law:
  • While not out of place in the Ace Attorney franchise, the author specifically acknowledges this in the notes of the second chapter. For the most part, the proceedings are carried out similarly to how they are in the visual novels and not based on how court cases work in real life.
  • A specific example would be Mia, Makoto, and Futaba getting away with breaking-and-entering and using illegally obtained evidence. These actions should realistically have them all arrested and Mia disbarred.
• Asshole Victim: The victim was Masayoshi Shido and anyone who has played P5 knows that he will not be missed. His Attempted Rape of his subordinate was mentioned and Ren's intervention is the reason he was on probation in the first place. Mia also mentions that he had some potential connections to Redd White, a known blackmailer. He used Goro to carry out hits (with the implication that it's through the Metaverse) with the intention of discarding him for not seeing much use for him anymore — fully knowing that he was his son. Even Mia says that she doesn't consider his death a tragedy.
• Badass Bookworm: Makoto is trained in aikido, and she gets a chance to show it off when Akechi corners them.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Sae and the killer. Sae is the one trying to get Ren convicted for the murder while Mia must find who the real killer is who framed him. It turns out that the killer, Akechi, is the true Big Bad since he was also manipulating Sae.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: While not too much of a surprise to P5 fans, Akechi is the culprit. However, he presents himself as someone who is concerned about Sae convicting an innocent person. The same person he personally framed for murder.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Both Ryuji and Ohya take notice of Mia's bustiness. Although, it seems that she might be somewhat self-conscious about it.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Makoto does this to Sae when she's in the detention center. It seems that she took it to heart since she warms up in the end.
• The Cameo: Phoenix makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the first chapter, but he is not a major character in this story.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Ryuji does seem to have some perverted tendencies such as encouraging Mia to present her cleavage and being interested in Ann's bikini shoots — she even uses this prospect to get him to escort her to a shoot. However, he is a genuinely good guy at heart. While he does make a comment about Mia being more than a pretty face and nice tits, Mia can tell that the sentiment he was trying to convey was genuine despite its less-than-ideal wording. And while Ann knows he'll be perving on her during the shoot, she trusts him enough to have him along for protection if necessary.
• Continuity Nod: To both games that the fic is based on.
  • The Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy:
    • Mia mentions her investigations into Redd White, one of the very things that helped spurn her into her career.
    • Mia mentions meeting Gumshoe before, alluding to Case 3-4.
    • When Mia expresses disbelief in the idea of a high school student working with the police as a detective, she illustrates the audacity of it by mentioning the idea of a thirteen-year-old prosecutor. Anyone familiar with the franchise should already hear the whip cracking.
    • When Mia meets Sojiro, Ryuji mentions his passion for coffee. It is implied that Mia reminds herself of her old boyfriend Diego Armando, known coffee enthusiast.
  • Persona 5: While there are many that factor into the plot itself, here are some minor ones:
    • The title itself references Joker's Arcana as the Fool within the game's Tarot Motifs.
    • Ryuji mentions his experiences with Kamoshida and almost seems to give away that they had a hand in exposing him.
    • Shido's position in the Conspiracy is noted, and Akechi's role as his Metaverse hitman.
• Defrosting the Ice Queen: The intention of Makoto in this story, similar to the game. She wants to pull Sae out of the depths of cynicism that she has dropped herself into during her time as a prosecutor. After seeing how corrupt the system was, losing the case, and being betrayed by Akechi, she finally does see the error of her ways and realizes what happened.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • While Ren is the protagonist of Persona 5, this story doesn't have him doing much. Justified since he's the accused. He wouldn't be able to go with the group even if he wanted to, and Ace Attorney defendants typically aren't featured much throughout a case.
  • Ann is one of the founding members of the Phantom Thieves and close friend to Ryuji and Ren, but she isn't joining Mia in the case. She only appears as a witness rather than on the defense team.
• Dissonant Serenity: Even though his friends and attorney have passionate emotions about his situation, Ren still remains calm even in detention after being falsely charged for murder again. Mia is confused about how she's more nervous about defending him than he is while being accused of murder.
  Does anything faze him? — Mia
• Dodgy Toupee: Albertson's toupee is described as pretty obvious and crappy by Mia. And he has plenty of spares. It is implied one of them was used by the killer, but it was a Red Herring.
• Establishing Character Moment:
  • Sae wastes no time being dismissive of the main group, but most notably towards Makoto and the opposing attorney. A no-nonsense prosecutor with a strained relationship with her sister.
  • Ohya is introduced by drunkenly arguing with cops while Going for the Big Scoop. The next interaction confirms that she is a reporter with questionable credentials and minimal (if any) professionalism.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: Ren admits that if not for everything Akechi did, he would have been friends with him.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Goro's plan initially hinged on the idea that Ren's friends would leave him as soon as they found out he was a murderer and wouldn't do anything to help his case. So, he had to do everything he could to make sure that they wouldn't be able to convict anyone other than Ren.
• First-Person Smartass: Much like other Ace Attorney protagonists, Mia has no shortage of snark in the narration of the fic.
• Foil: Mia and Sae. Both of them are lawyers with younger sisters who look up to them. In addition, they have cases of Parental Abandonment that pushed them into the path they are now. However, aside from the fact that Mia is a defense attorney and Sae is a prosecutor, they have some obvious differences. While Mia has become more idealistic and maintains a better relationship with Maya, Sae has grown bitter and cynical and has a strained relationship with Makoto at best. In addition, Mia does her best to practice law the honest way to defend people who need defending. Sae is an Amoral Attorney who only cares about winning, even if that means doing things like forcing false confessions or manipulating evidence. This is something that helps Mia push Sae's Character Development along.
• Frame-Up: Like many Ace Attorney games, Ren is falsely accused and set up by the true murderer, and it's up to Mia to get him cleared of the charges.
• Freudian Trio: The protagonist and her companions. Ryuji is the brash, hot-headed one while Makoto tends to be the calm, level-headed one. Mia has to act as a mediator between the two.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse:
  • Mia understands Sae's struggle in the workplace dealing with sexism on top of the ruthlessness of the prosecutor's office, but she still calls her out by saying it doesn't excuse trying to convict Ren and what she says to Makoto.
  • While the characters understand why Akechi did what he did, none of them excuse it since he went out of his way to manipulate Sae and frame Ren. Ryuji even says that the fact that he used people makes him no better than his father. Akechi agrees.
• The Glomp: Ryuji does this to Ren on the first and last days of the trial.
• Gratuitous Japanese: Akechi tends to use Japanese honorifics for people. This wouldn't be unusual otherwise since this takes place in Japan, but almost no one else bothers to use them. Most notably, he uses them for Mia (calling her "Fey-san"), who still has her localized name. The only exceptions are Futaba calling Makoto "Mako-chan" (though that's only used as an Affectionate Nickname) and Ryuji once calling Makoto senpai. The other characters otherwise use English titles, so Akechi's use of honorifics stands out.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Goro's Motive Rant shows that he was jealous of Ren. While Goro had fans, he never had anyone close to him. During all his time observing him, he became resentful of how easy it was for Ren to pick up friends who were so loyal to him and each other. This is why he thought to frame him for the murder.
• Heel–Face Turn: By the end of the fic, Sae is no longer antagonistic towards Mia and Ren.
• Heel Realization: It is a slow one, but Sae comes to realize what she became over the course of the fic.
• Hollywood Silencer: The silencer used by the killer does not make any sound that would be heard by anyone in the surrounding rooms.
• Hot-Blooded: Ryuji, much like canon, tends to have very strong emotions and is prone to being confrontational and shouting often.
• Incoming Ham: Ohya knows how to make an entrance.
  "HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTTS, BITCHES, BECAUSE THE PARTY IS HERE!"
• Joke and Receive: An example that serves as a Call-Forward. While astounded at the idea that a high school student could work with the police as a detective, she compares it to the idea of a thirteen-year-old prosecutor — a pretty obvious reference to Franziska von Karma. With the timeframe of the fic, von Karma has already been a prosecutor for at least four years.
• Just a Kid: When Makoto tried to confront Sae about her prosecuting methods in the past, Sae responded by saying she wouldn't understand since she's a kid.
• Just Following Orders: How Sae justifies her actions as an Amoral Attorney.
• The Killer Was Left-Handed: The security footage supposedly showing Ren had the killer shoving the gun in his coat using his left hand. However, the prints recovered from the gun were from Ren's right hand.
• Lampshade Hanging: The protagonists tend to point out their legally dubious investigation methods.
• Last-Second Word Swap: Mia looks like she's about to drop an f-bomb at one point out of frustration, but she composes herself and changes it to "fine."
• Limp and Livid: After Sae's airtight case gets broken down near the end of the first trial day, she is described as looking this way.
• Lower-Deck Episode: To Persona 5. While the Metaverse is implied to be used, it is presented from the perspective of someone who knows nothing about it. While the Ace Attorney is no stranger to supernatural happenings (Mia herself being a spirit medium from a family of mediums), there is nothing on that scale.
• Mask of Sanity: Akechi puts up a good front, but it is later revealed to be borderline Ax-Crazy. First shown when he corners Mia, Futaba, and Makoto in his place. The second is during his Villainous Breakdown during the third day of the trial.
• Ms. Fanservice: Mia and Ann, same as they are in their respective games. Not only do others comment on their looks, both of them lampshade this aspect for the other. Mia narrates how Ann's looks definitely fit a model. Ann openly goes into detail by saying that Mia looks like a model and mentions her face, proportions, legs, and facial mole.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Sae realizing that she was used as a pawn to prosecute an innocent person made her realize just how corrupt she was.
• Noodle Incident: Apparently, the Grand Royal got in some legal trouble over something to do with seafood.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Ryuji gives Akechi one by pointing out that the way he used people makes him no better than Shido. Akechi agrees.
• Omnidisciplinary Lawyer: Averted when Sojiro says he'll have to retain Mia for the police raiding his shop. She kindly informs him that she specializes in criminal law and would recommend some lawyers for him.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Finding the real murderer enrages Makoto so much that she not only drops a Precision F-Strike, but she also declares that she'll kill them. Especially since it was someone who seemed to be helping them prove Ren's innocence.
• Persecuting Prosecutor: Sae Niijima is set up to be this the same way she was in the game, much like many Ace Attorney prosecutors. She is known for forcing confessions out of people, manipulating evidence, and doing just about anything in the pursuit of a guilty verdict. It's one thing that concerns both Akechi and Makoto.
• Precision F-Strike: The fic does have some profanity, but never has any f-bombs. Ryuji comes the closest to that, but he only uses "eff" like in the game. However, there are two in this fic. Not only is it in a work that doesn't have f-bombs, but they also come from unlikely sources.
  • When Sae loses her Open-and-Shut Case, she breaks down and releases an Atomic F-Bomb. Looks like she didn't take it well.
  • When Makoto finds out who the real culprit is, Makoto loses her cool and shouts, "I'll fucking kill [them]!"
• Punny Name: The Original Character who is the manager of the Grand Royal Hotel is named Grant Roy Albertson.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Ryuji and Makoto respectively. Ryuji is brash, openly emotional, and confrontational. Makoto tends to be calm and reserved unless she's reacting to Ryuji's impulsiveness.
• Resentful Guardian: Like in the game, Sae regards Makoto as more of a burden.
• Shown Their Work: There is a comment about how silencers and suppressors do not alter the ballistic markings of a gun, allowing them to match the bullet to the gun despite not having the silencer.
• A Sinister Clue: Akechi is left-handed and the killer who framed Ren.
• Skewed Priorities: Ann takes more time taking selfies just before meeting with the attorney who is attempting to exonerate her friend from a false murder charge.
• Sore Loser: Mia lampshades the fact about Sae when she has a meltdown in court after she loses her lead. Keep in mind that she hasn't even lost yet. Any indication that she isn't going to win when she wants is enough to cause her to lose it. She outgrows this by the time she does lose the case thanks to her seeing the error of her ways.
• Spanner in the Works: Akechi could have gotten away with the murder if not for Futaba. The hotel did not pursue the thief in the hoodie since they returned the bag without stealing anything in it. However, Futaba's hacking experience allows her to find the hooded figure and follow him back to Akechi's place. They never would have been able to open the safe without her either.
• Tranquil Fury: Compared to her extreme reaction to the killer beforehand, Makoto is described as having a cold fury as she demands that Akechi stays at the witness stand.
• Undercover as Lovers: Ryuji tries this to give an excuse as to why Mia is with him at Untouchables. Iwai points out that he isn't the kind of person a woman like her is willing to risk jail for. The ploy earns Ryuji a few crushed toes as she emphatically denies the claim.
• The Unfought: Munehisa Iwai is met at Untouchables, but he does not appear in court.
• Unwitting Pawn: Akechi had manipulated Sae into convicting Ren by putting forth evidence that would finger him as the murderer. He even openly gloats about it once he is caught.
• Victoria's Secret Compartment: When Mia finds a notebook of Shido's containing a list of opponents that he has implied to have had killed, she stuffs it away in her coat, wanting to keep this evidence from Sae on the chance that the police attempt to cover it up.
• Villainous Breakdown: Akechi starts going full Ax-Crazy as Mia starts to corner him as being the true culprit. He's shouting and ranting against the evidence that Mia has laid out. Once there is no room for doubt, he releases a Skyward Scream and breaks down sobbing before launching into his Motive Rant.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: This is how Shido sees people. Tools to be used and thrown out once he's done with them. This is the fate that Akechi was trying to avoid, which drove him to murder him first.

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