Commission: Ace Attorney: Athena's Chubby Days

Athena Cykes sat alone in her cramped, stuffy little office. The lights were on, her computer was on, but Athena was solely focused on the sheet of documents she had been reading and re-reading like a paranoid maniac for the past thirty minutes. A small clock alarm on her desk flashed the numbers '12:00' over and over, but the young lawyer ignored it. A cup of coffee sat on her desk, but she ignored it too after only a few sips, the drink having long since gone cold. Beside the neglected cup was a pile of empty ramen cups and chocolate bar wrappers; the young woman's diet had taken a sharp nosedive as her pile of work increased higher and higher.

Athena clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, flipping through page after page. Her mind felt like it was going at a hundred miles per hour, maybe even faster, as she desperately searched for an answer within the thousands of lines of text. An answer to discover and decipher the one connection between events, the connection that she was obviously missing, to solve this case. Her entire career as a budding young defense attorney could depend on it.

The victim was a 42-year-old office worker, struck by a speeding car while he was crossing the street; apparently he had been out on a nightly jog. The suspect, Athena's defendant, was a 20-year-old who had accidentally hit the victim on the way home from his low-paying retail job. The suspect had claimed that he had not meant to speed or even hit the man. In fact, he claimed that it was his vengeful ex-girlfriend who had made him doing, having been hiding in the back of the car and threatening him with a gun. He had been turned in to the police while claiming this was true, but when the officers had inspected the car, they did not find anyone else hiding inside it. The young man had told Athena that his ex had used a spare key he'd forgotten to get from her, and she had been wanting to get back at him for a long time, even though he broke up with her in the first place because of her obsessive personality. A knife had been found underneath the car seat, but no gun, and the police found the suspect's girlfriend at a nearby bar about an hour later. She claimed to have been there the entire night. The suspect didn't seem particularly intelligent, but it seemed hard to believe he would make up something so outrageous and expect it to work if it wasn't actually true.

Athena had been chosen to give the job by her superiors, but she had grand doubts that she could prove anything worthwhile. The whole thing seemed like a shut and close sort of case. There was enough evidence to incriminate him and throw the suspect straight into jail. His story was ridiculous, but he was standing by it, and Athena had to think that meant something. She wanted to find out the missing link in the case. Whatever it was the local authorities could have missed, she needed to figure it out and explain it in court so that she could prove her client innocent, or at the very least extend the trial and get herself more time to gather evidence.

Trust was one of the most important aspects in a relationship between a lawyer and their client. She wanted to believe in him and his claims, she truly did.

Athena sighed. Had her head been bashed in with a hammer repeatedly or she'd been staring at the sun for over an hour without blinking, then neither would have been a far cry from how she felt right about now. She had been awake since 5 a.m. and already working on the case, but now that it was early into the morning of the next day, she was making a rather disconcerting discovery about herself: her so-assumed limitless thirst for justice wasn't actually so limitless after all. She wiped her eyes with the back of her head, stifling a yawn. She wasn't getting any further in achieving the result she desired.

'Is it...really hopeless?' she thought.

Suddenly, it occurred to her. The defendant had not actually seen the gun; he wasn't allowed to turn his head or his apparent ex-girlfriend in the car threatened to shoot him. There was a knife hidden in the car, so it may have actually been a knife instead of a gun. Gun control laws in their city weren't the best, but it would have been extremely difficult for someone around the defendant's age to get hold of a firearm on their own. The defendant's car had its doors unlocked after he'd been turned into the police; it was possible the girlfriend had managed to escape from the crime scene before being spotted. Whether it was sheer luck or incompetence by the police force, something had to have happened. Athena slammed the sheet of documents onto the desktop, causing a few empty ramen cups to topple over. She knew what she had to do. It was a stretch, a definite stretch, but she could possibly make a case for it if she figured out how to word it all correctly. She removed an empty piece of paper and started frantically scribbling down her thoughts onto it. She needed to open up the case on the ex-girlfriend again, and try to prove that she was involved with this entire crime. It was the only way that Athena could think of proving her defendant rightfully innocent.

'Yes, I can do this! I know how to get him a 'not guilty' verdict! I can definitely do this even without your help, Apollo!' Athena thought to herself. She loved that man as much as a woman could love a man without romantic implications involved, but she had a great, innate desire to prove her worth in court on her own merits.

'I can do this!'

Athena sobbed loud and hard into the comfort of her arms. She made no effort to keep herself from sobbing uncontrollably in the little diner that afternoon. Apollo and Phoenix looked over her, feeling a great amount of pity for the poor girl. They were also a little concerned for all of the odd looks they were getting from other customers and diner employees.

"Hey, it's alright," Apollo pat her back, "You did the best you could. You can't prove every defendant innocent. Not to mention sometimes the defendant really is the true culprit."

"Y-Yeah! That's right! Even the pros can't win every court battle! That's happened to me...at least once before..." Phoenix didn't really like having to remember that particular case very much, but it also helped him realize just how lucky he truly was, to defend so many people who were actually innocent.

"I thought I could do it! I was so close! I was so damn close...but not even Widget could find any fluctuating emotions in the ex's testimony...she wasn't lying at all...!"

"He didn't have a very strong case anyway; it was going to be a pretty thin stretch to prove that his ex-girlfriend was involved, especially when he was still the one responsible for striking and murdering a civilian with his car. You're not the one at fault here, Athena."

Athena straightened her posture and wiped her eyes with a napkin. She knew that the two men were trying their hardest to comfort her, and she appreciated their efforts more than anything, but at the same time, she couldn't accept their condolences. It didn't feel right to do so. She had spent hours upon hours searching and planning and struggling for the sake of her client, nearly putting herself on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion, and she still couldn't save him from the judge's gavel. Athena wasn't about to let this black mark on her record slide, at least because she herself needed to remember it, and that it would always be lingering in the back of her mind as she worked hard to prove her next client innocent. She wasn't usually so hard on herself, not since Phoenix finally closed the book on the years of guilt Athena had suffered over losing her mother, but when she'd been so sure what she'd been doing was the right thing...it really sucked to see it all go to waste.

"Can we just order our food now...?" she requested.

"Ah? Uh, sure! Yeah, we should probably get to that, huh?" Apollo awkwardly lifted his menu into his hands. Phoenix did the same, occasionally casting a worried glance in Athena's direction.

A waitress soon approached them.

"Are you ready to order?"

Athena lowered her menu, nodding, "Yes, I'm ready. I'd like a deluxe cheeseburger, cheddar, well-done, with a side of fries and onion rings on the side. Coleslaw too, please."

Apollo and Phoenix stared at her. Athena shrugged.

"I'm a growing girl, and I feel like eating big today. You know me, right, Polly? I got a hollow leg!" Athena winked and chuckled, nudging Apollo in the arm.

Apollo was aghast, but not by Athena's 'hollow leg' joke. "P-Polly...?"

"Yeah, Trucy told me that was her nickname for you." Athena replied.

"Guh...that girl...even if she isn't around that often anymore, she still does these things..." Apollo shook his head.

Phoenix had this massive, unruly grin on his face, like he was on the verge of laughter, but Apollo was giving him a desperate glare, silently pleading him not to.

"What about you two?" the waitress asked. Phoenix and Apollo had almost forgotten she was here.

Athena excused herself to use the bathroom. She was still terribly bummed from her failure in court this morning, but she felt a little better thanks to her friends, whether or not she should have taken their compliments. The young woman entered the bathroom and made for one of the stalls, but stopped when she happened to glance over at the sinks, and the mirror hanging above them. Athena remained perfectly still for a few moments as her brain processed the reflection she saw staring back at her. It was like she was looking at a stranger. She'd acknowledged that she hadn't taken much time to inspect her appearance over the past couple of days due to her work, but she hadn't known it had gotten to this level.

Widget cried out to save Athena the time, "I look like a bloated hog!"

Athena had to admit that her little computer made a strong and valid point, especially when it was blurting out its wearer's own thoughts. All of those late night work sessions, staying up so late that you lose track of which day it was, at the same while eating a combination of the cheapest but unhealthiest variety of foods imaginable, and none of it had done her figure an ounce of good. Ironically, it had put a couple hundred extra ounces onto her frame since then. Athena hadn't noticed the tightness of her uniform, but it did seem somewhat snug, when she actually thought about it. She looked all-around plusher in figure; her face was slightly rounded, a tiny double-chin appearing when she dipped her head, and her arms were a bit thicker too. Her breasts were bigger, her white under-shirt and beloved yellow jacket were straining to keep in her hefty lady-gut, while her rear didn't seem to be giving them any less trouble either. Athena could hardly believe the stark transformation in body size that a few weeks of relentless work could do.

In fact, when she thought about it, the number of impossibilities started stacking up into quite a pile. She HAD to have noticed her gain to some extant over the past couple of weeks. There was no way she could have missed the progress her rolls were making on reaching past her waist-line. If anything, her work had kept her so busy that everything else around her and about her had to be pushed aside. Yet that still wasn't the oddest thing of all.

'Why haven't Polly or Mr. Wright said anything yet, though...?' she wondered.

Of course, they had to have noticed themselves, but they held back from mentioning it to spare Athena of her feelings. Maybe they had even intended on telling her today, but when they saw how badly she lost in court, they lost their nerve and decided to focus on simply cheering her up again. Athena appreciated the gesture, if that was what had actually happened between the two men, but it served to help heighten the fear that her paranoia conjured up, imagining what sort of thoughts ran through their heads when they saw her. Walking around in these too-tight clothes, letting her chunky curves show themselves off like it was the latest fashion, stuffing her face with ramen and burgers without a care in the world. To have appeared like a slob would have been one of the more generous descriptions of her past actions these few weeks alone. Oh, how thankful she was that Simon Blackquill was out of the country on business; she would have been mortified if he'd seen her looking so fat.

Athena huffed. She pulled on her jacket, made sure all of the buttons were perfectly safe from popping, and left the bathroom.

"I'm back."

Apollo and Phoenix seemed to be in the middle of whispering among hushed tones, and they immediately stopped talking as Athena returned to her seat.

"What were you two talking about?" she asked.

"Nothing at all," Apollo shook his head.

"We were discussing about what to do for another case that Apollo has been working on lately." Phoenix replied almost before Apollo had finished speaking, prompting a glare from the younger man.

Athena frowned. That's right; her fellow lawyers still had their own cases to deal with, their own prosecutors to face down in court, and their own defendants to prove innocent. She'd already messed up her chance. She sighed and rubbed her stomach. Whether it was failing at her job or putting on an unbelievable amount of extra weight, things really couldn't be too much worse right now. She wondered if she should have ordered that burger, it wasn't going to help her keep off any calories that was for sure. Yet she was so hungry and sad; food tended to help in times like these. Especially chocolate. Athena licked her lips. She wondered briefly what chocolate might taste like on a hamburger, but she shook such ridiculous thoughts out of her head. She was letting her mind wander too much.

"So you guys already ordered, huh?"

"Yep."

"Eh, shouldn't be too long now, I guess."

"Athena..." Phoenix started to say.

"What is it?" Athena might have replied a little too strongly, but if her boss was about to mention something regarding her weight, she was all ears to hear it. In fact, she wanted to hear it. It was like that sort of intense desire to know the truth, despite knowing it can only be something terrible and nothing else. She leaned in a little closer.

"I, uh, I...I was wondering how you're still feeling about what happened in court today," Phoenix was quick to change the original topic he was about to bring up, "How are you holding up? You seem a bit better, but the whole thing happened less than two hours ago. Do you think you might want to take a break from work for a while? To get your spirits back up?"

Athena was disappointed, but she was also a little offended. "No way! I'm a little discouraged I guess...but that doesn't mean I can just give up! What kind of defense lawyer would I be if I didn't want to defend anyone? A schlub, that's what I'd be! I just need a better case next time!"

"Make sure to pick one where it's more obvious that the client is actually innocent!" Apollo chuckled.

Athena slammed her hands on the table. "We aren't the ones who get to pick our clients; it's up to our clients to pick us!"

"We can try all we like to get their permission, but it's up to the client in the end to decide if they want one of us to defend them." Phoenix added in.

"I...I know that...I was just kidding, you guys...sorry..." Apollo's 'horns' drooped; his joke had fallen flat on its face and pretty much died face-first in the dirt. Even Mr. Wright seemed unfazed by his quip, and yet Phoenix tended to make more terrible puns and awkward one-liners than anyone else of the trio.

The food arrived soon after. Athena eyed her plate with some consideration; a thick and juicy hamburger, topped by slices of melted cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and a pair of crunchy onion rings, with a dish of hot french fries sitting beside it and a smaller, plastic cup of coleslaw flanking the other side. It looked absolutely delicious. Athena's chunky belly started to grumble and growl; she'd been so focused on so many things today, this was the first time she'd let her hunger actually show itself. She grabbed hold of the burger with both hands and lifted it up to her mouth.

She stopped. She could see that Phoenix and Apollo were both watching her. They were doubting her choice of ordering a hamburger, yet they never spoke a word against it, not even now that the food was sitting right in front of her. Athena wondered if they would ever muster up the guts to say anything. She opened her mouth wide. It was too late to try and stop things now; this burger was going straight into her fluffy, fat belly. She'd start working on exercise afterward.

Athena enclosed her lips around the hamburger and tore off a large chunk of it. As expected, it tasted wonderful.

A week without work came and went. Athena was desperate to get another chance to prove herself, but it seemed that whenever she went down to pay a visit to the detention center, all of the suspects prepared for court had already gotten themselves another defense attorney. If she was someone who was paranoid enough to believe in conspiracies, and she certainly didn't think she was by a long-shot, then it would have almost seemed to her like her recent failure had become a rumor spread among the detention center's occupants, and now no one wished to put their innocence in her hands. It was rather annoying how coincidental it all was. With little to keep herself preoccupied around the office besides paperwork, Athena was influenced to eat even more.

"Athena, what are you doing?" Apollo asked.

Athena removed her gloved hand from her bag of potato chips and stuffed them into her mouth. They crunched loudly in her maw and she swallowed them up. "Just hanging around and snacking. What's going on with you, Apollo?" Her hand was already moving for the bag again.

"I'm wondering WHY you're snacking. Didn't you just have lunch out a few hours ago?" he replied.

Athena glared at him, and Widget snapped, "Mind your own business!"

"I'm just still a bit hungry; it was a small meal," Athena shrugged it off, quick to jump in to cover up for Widget's ill-mannered remarks, even if the little robot was still speaking Athena's thoughts.

Apollo rolled his eyes. "I'm not trying to be the bad guy here, Athena. I'm just looking out for you!"

"I know." Athena slipped a single chip into her mouth, and chomped down, snapping it in half. "I'm not that mad. Just bored. And hungry. Don't worry about it!"

"...I'm going to be in my office, making some calls. I'll be busy for a while." Apollo sighed and walked away. He wasn't someone who liked to deal with in-fighting among fellow employees, especially when they worked at the same office, but he was still concerned for Athena's weight all the same. Athena's appetite had only been increasing since that day she lost in court; while her clothes still fit now, it was only going to be a matter of time, if she ate nearly five meals a day like she'd been doing, before they started popping off of her, button by button. Even worse, it seemed like he was the only one who even cared at all. Phoenix Wright was content in keeping his mouth shut, Trucy wasn't around often enough to make comment, and Athena herself was making no changes. He worried how long this would go on for.

Athena kept eating. She knew she needed to lose weight, or rather, that she should lose weight. So far, aside from snug outfits and odd looks, she hadn't faced too much trouble from her new weight, but the pressures of societal expectations weighed heavily on her mind at all times. She reached down and stroked the bottom-most roll of her belly; when she was in a sitting position, her belly was fat enough to split into into a pair of rolls, the lower one being much thicker as it pushed over onto her lap. She gentle pressed her finger deep inside, like she was trying to bury it and dig a hole, the skin as soft as a peach's, and then pulled back to see how far the indent went. Athena wondered how it was that blubber could grow on a person's body so easily, yet it refused to ever take leave without hours and hours of intense exercise and healthy dieting. It reminded her of history, like how ancient conquerors claimed other lands for themselves.

Athena kept eating her chips, but a little slower than before. She didn't know what she was going to do. Without any of the field work that she so enjoyed, she had very little to do, and lately, whenever she was bored, she started to eat, and she could eat a lot these days with so much extra space to fill.

"Hey! Daddy! Polly! I'm here!"

Athena looked up. Trucy was waltzing her way into the office unannounced beforehand, just as she'd done time and again, almost as if she'd owned the place. Then again, she was Wright's adopted daughter, and he always treated her like he would a real daughter, so she may as well be the second host being so gracious to let Apollo and Athena stay there when they wanted. Athena and Trucy had never been able to interact much before, certain cases pulling them this way and that, but there was no doubt in the attorney's mind that they could be great friends.

"Ah! Athena! Hey! Have you seen Daddy or Polly anywhere?" Trucy asked, approaching the snacking lawyer.

Athena shook her head. "Your dad's out. Apollo...well, he's kind of busy right now, I don't think he was expecting you dropping by either."

"Geez, that guy! He's known me for a few years and he still doesn't come to expect this is the usual with me? Polly can be so uptight sometimes!" Trucy puffed out her cheeks and put on a rather adorable pout, crossing her arms to top it off. It was like she'd briefly transformed herself into some kind of animated character with that over the top expression, and it made Athena chuckle.

"Do you want me to go and get him?"

Trucy shook her head. "No...if he's busy, then he's busy. I know how he doesn't like to get interrupted, that guy. What are you doing, Athena?"

"I'm..." Athena glanced down at the bag of chips in her hand, and tossed it aside, "I'm just hanging around!"

Trucy knelt down in front of her, eyes now glued onto Athena's protruding, round gut. "Oh..." she seemed mesmerized by its presence.

"W-What is it?" Athena asked.

"Hmm, you look quite well-fed!" Trucy started to giggle; she poked Athena's lower belly-roll and watched it shake.

"Yeah..."

"Hey, be careful with the merchandise!" Widget snapped.

"Oh, and Widget too, how could I ever forget about him?" Trucy laughed even more. The young magician stood up. "I was going to ask Polly to go out to lunch, since it's been a long time that I've gotten to see him, but I think you'd be much more fun! Do you wanna go?"

Athena licked the salt off of her lips. She was actually considering it. She'd already eaten lunch, just eaten a snack, and was presumably going to have a big dinner afterward. Going out to eat right now would do nothing but wonders for her figure, and that was a completely sarcastic statement. Athena was curious to know what kind of food it was that Trucy liked to eat, though. She still managed to keep a slim figure even in a world full of saturated fats and empty calories, so maybe it was actually a healthy brand of food Athena hadn't been aware of. If they went out to eat and she ordered herself a salad, it wouldn't be nearly as bad for her conscience or her waistline.

"Sure! I'm not doing anything else here anyway!"

"Alrighty!"

And so, thanks to a number of bad decisions, poor food choices and general laziness on her part, Athena swelled up to being over 300 pounds, not a single ounce of it anything but tender, supple adipose.

"Ah, man..." she spoke in a subdued voice, but she was about ready to start yelling at any moment.

Athena was glad she wasn't wearing Widget right now as she leaned over to read the numbers on her scale, or else the little robot would be speaking some very choice words right about now. She held her belly fat in her pudgy hands; she couldn't even grip it all, it squeezed through the gaps of her fingers and it was so smooth and soft that it was difficult to keep a prolonged grip. Athena released her gut and let it smack against her crotch. She stood in the bathroom in only her bra and panties, but even they seemed too small to be considered modest anymore. She need to crane her neck far just to read the numbers, and even then, she had to hold her stomach back to see it too.

However, while her belly had indeed gotten fatter, it seemed more of her chub was migrating to her thighs and rear than before. Her butt was massive; riddled with dimples, it seemed to suck in her panties like a hungry beast all its own, and Athena had purposely neglected to inform her employer yet that she'd already broken her office chair thanks to her backside's incredible girth. When she moved, it shook like mad, and even the slightest shift in her sitting position would make her underwear ride up higher and higher. Athena hadn't imagined she would develop into a pear-shape sort of girl, but it seemed that was the plan that fate had in mind for her. Her thighs weren't any better off, having to produce such a giant and mighty ass in the first place. At her current eating pace, it was only a matter of days before they started to rub against the doorways when she passed through. Her butt wasn't able to handle a single stool anymore either. She'd never realized seating could such a huge problem for someone with such a huge booty, until lately that is.

Athena rubbed her right thigh; so soft, so meaty, she pinched it and took on more than a couple of inches of thick fat in her fingers. She was absolutely huge on all sides, and in almost every way.

"I let myself go pretty quickly," she sighed, shaking her head at the understatement. She almost started to wonder if the lawyer life was really suited for her, if she was going to be so slovenly whenever she didn't have work. In fact, it was because she was so stressed over a particular case that she ended up eating far more than she should have. The job might have had a bad influence on her after all.

Athena hurried to put on her uniform for the day; she'd bought larger sizes of most of her favorite outfits, but she'd yet to throw out her old clothes. She didn't have the heart to do it just yet.

She stepped out of her apartment and gathered her things. She needed to hurry to work today. There was a pile of paperwork with her name on it, literally. She was already figuring she would start snacking in the middle of the writing, and she wouldn't stop until she was all done. It was almost bound to happen; the hunger she experienced during work these days was simply too strong to ignore.

"Hey, Athena! Just in time!"

Athena opened the door to the Wright Offices and found herself immediately confronted by Apollo and Phoenix Wright himself.

"What's going on?" she asked.

They led her over to meet an old woman, a potential customer, who was sitting anxiously on the visitor's couch, nervously nibbling at her fingernails.

"Is she a client?" Athena looked at her.

Phoenix shook his head. "Not exactly."

"I'm here for my son's sake! He's being accused of killing his best friend, but he insists he didn't do it! I believe him with all my heart!" the old woman instantly leaped into a tirade, "He and Weaton were best friends! They even grew up in the same neighborhood together! He never would have killed him, he wouldn't!"

"Please calm down, ma'am; we plan on taking on your son's case, don't worry." Apollo reassured her.

The old woman was trembling. "I came here because I heard many good things about the people who work in this office! You can really save my little boy for me?"

"I'm actually busy with another case right now, and Apollo is too." Phoenix explained. "However, we do have a THIRD member of our crew here who would be more than happy to help you! Right, Athena?"

Athena looked back and forth between the two lawyers and the poor woman sitting in front of her. It was her chance. She was finally going to be able to go back into court again and defend someone. At first she felt a disinclination to do it; the failure of her last court appearance had left a deep scar on her psyche, one that still had not fully healed after all of this time. She was also afraid of what effects the work-related stress would have on her appetite. She would likely put on a few extra pounds by the end of it all, considering how badly the old woman wanted her son to be proven innocent. Athena gulped. She gently rubbed her belly.

However, if she was going to say 'no' here, she wouldn't just be abandoning her career, but she would be abandoning her entire sense of justice. She was a defense attorney because she believed in people and the concept of justice to begin with. No one, not Phoenix, not Apollo, not Trucy, not even this old woman seemed the least bit bothered by her size. She'd never lost her brain or her wits, which was most important in her line of work. It wouldn't hurt to try once more, her weight as a fair sacrifice for defending those who couldn't defend themselves.

"I'll take on your case! You can count on me to prove him innocent, and I'll even find out the true culprit!"