A/N: Sometimes the smallest thing can change your life. This is an alternative universe retelling of Trials and Tribulations, where one small difference, a second's hesitation led to a slightly different reality from what we saw in the games.

The defense attorney Diego Armando had been in the middle of his 6th cup of morning coffee (and so very undercaffeinated) when Desirée DeLite had swooped in the offices of Armando & Fey, wanting to hire a defense attorney for her husband.

He had argued against it half-heartedly, more out of habit than anything else.

He was related to the case. After all, DeLite was being accused of stealing the sacred urn of Kurain, the holy relic that had been borrowed to the exhibition by the Feys, and Diego's girlfriend and her sister had been instrumental in persuading the elders of the village to let their precious objects be put on display in the city.

Diego himself would have preferred staying out of anything Kurain-related, and maybe Mia would have wanted to take care of it herself.

But she was busy with another trial, and defending the thief might have caused more complications with her situation with Kurain, so Diego had agreed to take the case.

So he had arrived at the courthouse after a quick investigation and a visit to the detention center. His client was being accused of being Mask DeMasque, a flamboyantly dressed gentleman-thief.

There was more to this case, there usually was, and many things in this case were odd, but it wasn't until Diego saw the prosecutor that the case really got his attention.

The first thing Diego noticed was the mask covering the upper half of his face. Metallic and with three horizontal red lights, it looked like something straight out of one of those science fiction movies Mia was so fond of.

It would make reading him difficult.

Who was this man, and why hadn't he seen him before? Diego estimated the prosecutor was younger than him, and yet his hair was greyish white, pointing backwards in spikes. A rookie lawyer, maybe?

In contrast to his unconventional headwear and the choice of hairstyle rest of his body was clad in a relatively normal-looking blue suit, with the Prosecutor badge on his lapel proudly advertising his profession.

"Court is now in session for Ron de Lite." The Judge announced.

"The defense is ready."

All eyes turned to the prosecutor.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, um prosecution is ready."

"Prosecutor Crap-"

"Krapp! It's pronounced Krapp, why do people keep making that mistake?"

The Judge seemed taken aback by this outburst, seemingly forgetting what he was about to say.

Diego took this opportunity to study the prosecutor's body language.

He seemed like a rookie, all right, and slightly nervous. Despite the half of his face being covered, the rest of his body was still very expressive, and Diego had little doubt he could read him well enough.

"I understand this is your first time prosecuting, but is a mask really necessary?" The Judge asked.

"Um... yes?"

His shoulders slumped, and he seemed to be sweating quite a bit. If this was how nervous he got at this stage of the trial, this should be easy for the defense.

We need every advantage we can have, what with my client admitting to the crime. Diego thought.

The Judge smiled. "Ah, yes, I myself have somewhat stopped following the youth-fashion. But I was young once, and I remember my first trial, I dressed up in all new suit, and then of course it was covered by the robe..."

"Yes, your honor."

Not like this is the weirdest prosecutor you have had in this courtroom. Diego thought. At least he doesn't seem to be carrying a whip.

"In any case, Mr. Krapp, please give your opening statement."

Said man cleared his throat. "The prosecution will show that the defendant Mr. Ron DeLite is without a doubt guilty. I will present decisive evidence to support my case."

His posture stiffened, and Diego was certain behind his mask he was staring straight at him across the courtroom. "The defense will, of course, try to discredit this evidence. After all, that's their job." The corners of his mouth tugged in a joyless smile. "But they will fail. That's all."

Diego stared back. Someone here doesn't like me... I wonder what I've done to earn the scorn of this wet-eared puppy?

Krapp was new to this, clearly, but quick at thinking on his feet, and managed to counter several of the defense's lines of questioning with well-placed objections, even if he had the habit of speaking without thinking and showing all of his emotions clearly with his body language.

And, Diego realized, Krapp wasn't surprised when the trial took an unexpected turn and the defense managed to implicate the detective and even get him to confess to being the thief. The masked man wasn't surprised or panicking. Almost like he had known all this time that DeLite wasn't guilty and that the truth would come out…

So even when he got his 'Not guilty' verdict, Diego couldn't shake the feeling he had walked straight into a trap.

"I thought I should come over and say hello."

Diego looked up from his papers and nodded to the masked prosecutor, trying to evaluate him, still uneasy about how the trial had turned out. He couldn't, of course, see the eyes of the other man, but he was willing to bet the stiff smile didn't reach his eyes.

Did he know this man? There was something vaguely familiar about him... But Diego was generally very good with faces, and confident he would remember him if they had faced each other in the courtroom before.

The mysterious prosecutor certainly seemed to know him, but maybe it was just by reputation. After all, the whole scandal with Redd White had made both him and Mia famous. The two lawyers who exposed the wide-spread corruption and blackmail and took down Bluecorp. Not to mention the case of Damon Gant, even though they had done their best to stay out of the spotlight after that.

"It's certainly true what I have heard of your abilities as a defense attorney..."

There it was again, that bitterness and hatred in his voice. This was personal for him.

Before Diego could answer, they were interrupted by a flurry of purple:

"Hey, Diego, you promised we'd go get some burgers- Oh!"

Maya stopped, noticing the prosecutor only after jumping between the two men.

"Oh, so cool! Are you cosplaying!?"

Diego, used to such outbursts from the girl, gestured towards the other man. "Maya, this is the prosecutor Krapp." In the last minute he bit back the impulse to mispronounce his name on purpose. But the presence of Maya held him back. He wasn't about to antagonize someone while his girlfriend's little sister was present.

"Why are you wearing a mask, then?" She inquired, before Diego could decide whether to formally introduce her to the other attorney.

Unexpectedly, the prosecutor in question grinned, scratching the back of his head:

"It shoots lasers."

Maya's eyes widened in awe. "Really?"

"Ha ha. Yeah, to rid the world of evil-doers."

Diego watched the bitterness vanish from Krapp's appearance as he laughed at the astonished girl, and couldn't help the smile tugging at his own lip. "Maya, don't take him seriously."

The prosecutor seemed to suddenly remember the defense lawyer, and turned to him. "The prosecution gets the best toys."

He was still smiling, but the coldness in his voice was back. "Perhaps you should have chosen to be on that side of the courtroom? I hear they are short on good prosecutors."

Diego, preferring not to continue the discussion while Maya was there, watched in silence as the masked man bid farewell to Maya with a slight smile, turned, and walked briskly out of the courtroom.

His thoughts and speculations were interrupted by an insistent tug on his sleeve.

"Burgers, Diego! Burgers are calling to me! I'll soon be going back to Kurain, I need to take full advantage of my time here!"

Affectionately, he patted her head.

"Sure, we'll go. Just don't eat us out of business, ok?"

"No promises!"

Deciding to worry about things he couldn't help later, Diego walked after the girl, smiling.

A/N: If you want to see the (very mysterious) masked prosecutor, here (remove the spaces and asterisks): h*t*t*p*:*/ / i177 . photobucket*.*com*/*albums / w201 / Lukkilikka / krapp . jpg