Scourge V. Knothole Village

The case of Scourge V. Knothole Village is a plot event that technically occurs in the first chapter of Heroes From An Old World, right as Nebula falls to Aleannas on a meteorite. However, the actual court case does not begin under twenty chapters later, in Chapter 21.

Events Prior
During the course of events in Heroes From An Old World, Scourge and his accomplice/girlfriend Fiona meet up in secret (and also by accident) with bounty hunters Nack and his sister Nicolette in Scott's cornfields in the middle of the night. Scourge hatches a plan to kidnap Princess Sally to gain Nack and Nicolette's trust, but his and Fiona's true intentions for the princess are not clearly stated; it can be assumed they want her dead. This partnership begins at the end of Chapter 15.

Arrest
After the explosion at Dr. Madness's forest base, the four decide to go check it out, thinking they would find Knothole Village by doing so. (However, even if they had succeeded, they would've still been going in the wrong direction). Once there, Hyper Metal Sonic appeared, scanning the area for any signs of life. Scourge ambushed the robotic clone, and Fiona, Nack, and Nicolette followed suit, leading Hyper Metal Sonic to call out a garbled transmission for assisstance. This transmission was able to get to Alexis, Hood, Soul, and Shackles in the nick of time. The four set out to find Scourge and his accomplices while also being (somewhat unwillingly) led to the location of the battle by Grace, Remy, and Heather.

Soon enough, the seven protagonists arrived to help out Hyper Metal Sonic, which led to a brief fighting interlude where Grace was almost shot by Nack. However, in the end, all four antagonists were arrested rather quickly. Alexis charged Scourge and Fiona with crimes against the House of Acorn, outstanding warrants, assault, disturbing the peace, and attempted murder, while Hood charged Nack and Nicolette with assault, conspiracy, and attempted murder.

Split-Up
After the initial arrests had been made, the group split into two different parties to continue on with their scenarios. Heather, Grace, Remy, and Hyper Metal Sonic all went back to Scott's farmhouse to await Scott's return from the ice fields with Warp and Nebula, while Alexis, Hood, Soul, and Shackles managed to take the four arrested antagonists back to Knothole Village.

First Trial
Chapter 21 signals the first part of the trial (although the dialouge tells the reader that the trial had been underway for quite a while). Alexis's testimony is technically first, but chronologically not the actual first testimony; this was proven to the reader when the judge stated that one part of Alexis's testimony going under cross-examination coincided with Princess Sally's, as well as others.

Alexis's testimony was the following: ''"Well, the President asked me and my friend Hood the Bee here to figure out the missing location of the hero Sonic the Hedgehog," Alexis began. "He said that two of his bodyguards would escort us here, and we met Soul and Shackles the Hedgehogs at the bi-plane. After arriving down here from Fantasio, we landed on the lake and spoke with the Princess for a bit. Afterwards, we all heard about some explosion coming from the other side of the Great Divide. We snuck over to the other side because the situation was suspicious, and then we came across some girl named Scizzy who thought we were trespassing, and she brought us to some farmhouse. We tried to explain to the civilians about the situation, but it wasn't until we got a call from Hyper Metal Sonic about him being attacked nearby by Scourge the Hedgehog. We all arrived on the scene and apprehended the four quickly, before escorting them back here while Hyper Metal Sonic went to the farmhouse with the civilians."''

After giving his intial testimony, Alexis was subjected to cross-examination by Defense Attorney Toddtoad and Prosecutor Kryden. Kryden first objected Alexis's testimony, asking what exactly Alexis and Princess Sally were talking about upon arrival. Kryden's next objection was about the "suspicious" activity that Alexis had undergone while sneaking through Scott's crops to pass the Great Divide. However, Toddtoad successfully defended Alexis's testimony, and Alexis was allowed to continue. Alexis then gave out a vital piece of information: after explaining his role at Scott's cornfields, he revealed that once Scizzy found them and took them to the farmhouse, the inhabitants briefly mistook them as accomplices of "The Scourge", which sent the courtroom into a frenzy.

Alexis soon pointed out that he never said Scourge was The Scourge (which is true), but due to the circumstances, Scourge was put into a corner. However, Scourge managed to point out that Grace, Remy, and Heather were also there, which led the judge to postpone the trial until they could get the inhabitants of the farmhouse to the courtroom for their testimonies into the case.

First Recess
Scourge, Fiona, Nack, and Nicolette were all taken back into a police custody room while Alexis sent Soul and Shackles to retrieve the witnesses needed for the court case to continue (which would continue in no less than two hours). However, whenever they arrived, Scott mistook Soul for The Scourge and attacked him, accidentally harming Shackles before everything became clear. Scott, nervous and embarassed, led the two inside where they were treated in a nice matter.

To be continued...

Trivia

 * The entire court case is based off of Phoenix Wright, which is shown by the loud "OBJECTIONS" screamed by the defense attorney and prosecutor.
 * Comparing this case to any case in Phoenix Wright history, the most closely resembled case is the "DL-6 incident," which wrapped together a majority of the main characters--in either a major or minor way--to one court case.