Hello, Shadowsleuth here! My third fanfic started, and also for Phoenix Wright. Unlike my other AA fanfic, this one does focus on the original AA characters, with some OCs to help the plot along. This one aims to be long and epic, so I hope you all find it as fun to read as it was for me to write. A few things to note before reading:
1. This is considered an "alternate universe" fic, since it's too hard for me to try and fit it into canon. However, the characters will try to stay in-characters, and not too much changes all around. I'll try to keep it as close to canon as possible.
2. Maya will not appear, but only because I find it difficult to write her character. I prefer Ema a bit more, to be honest... Anyways, I didn't want to offend any Maya fans (I know there are a lot) with my bad writing of her, so that's why she's gone. Pearl will not appear either. Sorry!
3. This story takes place between AAI and AJ. Also, if you didn't read in the summary, there are spoilers for all games except GK2. Some are outright, and some are more subtle references.
4. This first chapter is an Omniscient Narration, but the rest is first-person Phoenix.
5. Obligatory Disclaimer! Telling you all that I don't own this, even though this is obviously a FAN fiction and no one that owned any part of this would be writing it.
That's about it. I hope you all enjoy this story!
Location: ?
Date: 12:00 Midnight
Night hung over the Facility like a peaceful blanket, bejeweled with diamond stars. The natural peace of the darkness was broken by the lights of the Facility, which let the armed guardians go about their duties with ease. Unlike the city sky, no man-made lights shone in the heavens; planes did not pass here. And all the while, the eye of the night, the ever-watching moon, stared down attentively, not blinking, watching and waiting...
It really is a nice night, the Spy thought, adjusting her night vision goggles, bathing her line of sight in an eerie green. The goggles revealed the glowing silhouettes of the guards as they passed by, as well as the deadly instruments they carried with them.
Personally, she didn't care much for the goggles. Though they definitely came in handy, they were not her style at all. They made her look like some strange insect-person rather than a beautiful and cunning spy. The rest of her attire consisted of a light blue trench coat and matching pants. From her ears hung two scale-shaped earrings, custom-made, which were surrounded by her jet black hair, which rippled in the midnight breeze. Currently, she stood atop one of the Facility's watchtowers, an unconscious guard lying discarded on the floor. From this vantage point, she could visualize the route to her target; the route she'd practiced for many long days back at her base.
Inside the walls of the Facility, there were two large buildings: the guard station in the center, and the laboratory to its immediate right. The latter was her target, or more accurately, what was inside...
Knowing there wasn't much time left before she was spotted in the tower, she quickly jumped over the side and skillfully climbed down to the ground level, landing catlike behind two guards. Before they could even raise their weapons, the Spy had smashed their heads together, kicked one in the jaw, and smacked the other in the temple, rendering both unconscious. She had to move quickly now. The second they were found, the alarm would be raised, and then things would get ugly.
Oh well, she thought, a slight smirk forming on her lips, it's no fun without a little challenge...
She dropped three more guards before finally reaching the laboratory. The locked door meant little to her; she pulled a small, ornate key from her pocket and slipped it into the lock. In mere moments, the lock conceded, and the Spy was in, slipping off those ugly goggles as she entered.
Luckily, there were few researchers still here at this hour, so finding her way through the maze-like lab yielded little danger. Of course, there was the one unlucky fellow who happened to exit the restroom at just the wrong time. The Spy sent him to sleep with a headache, but other than him, she met no one else.
Finally, as she rounded a corner, she found her target: a door with two armed guards standing at attention. The Spy grinned and once again slipped out the key. She deftly spun it in her hand, and in a flash, the ornate key became a silver blade.
This is where it gets good, she thought, and ever so quietly approached the door.
Almost immediately, the guards took notice and raised their weapons, but the Spy was faster; a flash of silver and a spray of red, and both guards fell before a single shot was fired.
Perfect, she thought. She quickly dragged the bodies around the corner and tossed them into the aforementioned restroom. Now that she returned to the door, wiping off some unsightly specks of blood from her coat, she encountered a new problem: the lock was electronic.
Just my luck, she thought. Fortunately, a series of footsteps from the right alerted her to a possible ticket in. The Spy retreated to the corner and lay in wait.
As it turned out, the unlucky scientist happened to be a young lady in a lab coat, with a pair of bright pink glasses atop a large white hat. She walked by blissfully munching on some snacks out of a bag she carried under her arm, but more importantly, wore around her neck hung a shiny white card that read: "Master Key".
How perfect, the Spy said, slipping the blade into her hand.
The young lady was rather startled; one moment, she had been enjoying some delicious Snakoos, a treat she'd discovered while studying abroad in Europe, the next a gloved hand was covering her mouth, and an ice-cold blade was at her throat.
Her first instinct was to scream, but the gloved hand forced her cries back down her throat. She began to panic, unsure of what to do, when her captor spoke.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," A soft female voice said, "But I do need this..."
With a swift move, the Spy cut the Master Key free of its host, leaving a slight nick in the young girl's neck.
"Thank you," the Spy said. "Sorry about this..."
Suddenly, the young lady felt a sharp jolt, and decided that it was best to retreat to her dreams for now...
Satisfied, the Spy inserted the key into the lock, which, after some brief contemplation, yielded and swung open for her.
And there it was: lying in the center of the room on a raises pedestal, her target. It took the form of a simple briefcase, but the Spy recognized it from her files; this was it. The second she laid her hands on it, they would be after her, if they weren't already.
The Spy began to shiver with excitement. It was all she could do to hold in her laughter.
This thrill... She thought, as she extended trembling hands.
Yes... This is what I live for... What makes me feel truly alive!
She wanted to savor this as much as possible; this calm before the storm. Her hands moved slowly, and her heart began to pound in her chest. Her sly grin had grown larger, more wild than ever. Finally, she had it.
"Hey, what the-?"
An unfortunate guard had stumbled upon her weapon at the ready. The Spy merely turned and gave him her widest grin.
"Guess my time's up," she said, and in one fluid movement, she flung the briefcase at the guard and rushed him with her knife.
At that same instant, the guard managed to fire off three shots; one bounced off the case, another struck the back wall, but the third met the Emergency Switch and...
Alarms shot off, guards rushed about frantically, the area was bathed in red, entrances were sealed, exits barricaded, officers shouting commands to their subordinates. In the lab, the Spy tossed aside the fallen guard, picked up the briefcase, and took off.
It wasn't long before guards began flooding the building. They meant little to her, however. This rush made her unstoppable; she felt as though she could face a thousand guards on her own.
The first group to meet with her was taken down quickly; slice one, stab one, kick one where it counts, and she kept moving on. The second group was a bit larger, but they couldn't possibly stop her now. She found the closest one, kicked aside his weapon, broke his jaw, then swung his broken body into the others, who fired in vain on the Spy.
Fun...! This is so much fun!
Crack! Smash! Thwap! Snap!
The sounds echoed through the lab as the Spy encountered the next group of guards, grinning the whole time.
The exit! There it is...!
A sudden spray of gunfire cut her off, as a lone guard bravely, or perhaps foolishly, stood between her and escape. But he only stood for a moment, when the Spy's knife flew into his chest, sending the brave guard to a well-earned eternal rest.
The Spy snatched her knife back before kicking open the door, and stepping back into the outside compound of the Facility. She had not taken more than a few steps before a blazing spotlight shone down upon her, and guards approached from all sides.
"ATTENTION SPY! YOU HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED! RETURN THE BRIEFCASE AND SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY!"
At this point, she could not contain her laughter any more. Her body began to quiver as she released the chilling laughter that had been slowly building up inside her.
"Aha! Aha ha ha ha ha! !"
The Spy's laughter sent chills down the backs of each guard, as they each made sure that she was in their crosshairs.
As soon as this laughing fit was over, she looked upwards, letting her black hair surround her face like a shroud, the only visible feature being the wide grin she bore across her face. Some guards could swear that they could see fangs in her gleeful grin.
"How naive." The Spy slipped a small, slender object out of her sleeve. It was a small black device with a big red button on top...
The guards realized too late what was happening. By the time they had decided to fire, the detonator had been activated, and three large blasts shook the Facility like an earthquake from all sides.
The Spy shot off, like a runner out of the gates, madly dashing to the extraction point, bullets chasing her all the way. Gunshots rang out and bullets sped after her like hungry flies, sparking with anger when they narrowly missed their mark. Any guards she crossed were disposed of before they could so much as scream in terror.
Just a little further...
There! The copter was right there, just past the Facility gates, coming in for a landing. Finally, it was mission accomplished.
More and more bullets flew around her as the persistent guards came hot on her heels. She was fast, but so were they. Luckily, she snatched a weapon from a guard in passing, and took the opportunity to fire back. She must have hit at least two, because some of the bullets stopped, but two more still remained.
Almost there...
She could see the gates closing in front of her. Not on her watch. She hurled the rifle in between the shutting gate, jamming it temporarily. Two more guards stood between her and freedom. She cut them down quickly, and slipped between the gates, snatching the rifle as she passed. The gates snapped shut like the jaws of a beast that had narrowly missed its prey.
Made it!
Finally, the home stretch. She had the briefcase, and she had made it out. The helicopter dropped its ladder before her. She gratefully climbed up, pulling herself into the aircraft.
"Hold on," a voice from the copter halted her ascent. It was cold and mechanical, not at all like that of a human's. The Spy deduced that her client was using a voice changer. However, that didn't matter much to her. So long as she got paid...
"First, the briefcase." The voice demanded. Even through a voice changer, the speaker's voice left no room for debate.
The Spy nodded, and tossed the case inside. After a moment, she heard a grunt of satisfaction.
"Good," the voice muttered. "You've served us well, Ms. Yew. It's been a pleasure doing business with you."
There was a pause, and then:
"Unfortunately, your services will no longer be needed. Our contract is terminated."
The Spy barely had a chance to object, when suddenly the ladder she clung to was severed from the copter. She was too shocked to scream.
"Goodbye, Ms. Yew," the voice said. The copter flew off.
The Spy could do little more than watch as the copter flew off into the distance. It was not long before the guards had surrounded her again; only this time, there was no escape.
"Aha... Good one..."
All the while, the moon shone down, the all-seeing witness to the blackest night, always staring down upon the unfortunate Spy...
Phew! That was a pretty long chapter...
I decided to go all-out with this opening and make it a full-blown chapter rather than a short little prologue. Hopefully it wasn't too much.
The next chapter will calm things down a bit, and get to Phoenix's role in the story.
I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and will continue reading. Please review and tell me what you thought and how I can improve!
Thanks for reading!
-Shadowsleuth