Author's Notes: This is me venturing into a new frontier. I am terrified.

I have never written an AA fic before. I'm an avid fan, but I've only played a few games, and can hardly remember any of them. Please don't eat me.

This story takes place some time between the fourth and fifth games in the main series. Also, I'm conforming with the English version of the games, so this all takes place in LA, CA.

Also, WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS SWEARING AND VIOLENCE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. IF THIS MAKES YOU WRINKLE YOUR NOSE, THEN GO AWAY AND FIND YOUR HAPPY PLACE. Thank you.

That being said, enjoy the story. Thanks for reading!

Today was a particularly brutal day. It was as though the Sun had made it its personal mission to scorch away the face of the Earth. Worst of all, the AC was broken, so the inhabitants inside the Wright Anything Agency were trapped inside an oven.

Athena was leaning back on her chair, fanning herself with an empty folder. Apollo was sprawled miserably on the couch, vest unbuttoned. Only Trucy seemed to be unaffected by the sweltering heat. Aside from taking off her cape, she acted perfectly normal.

The brunette concentrated fiercely as she tried to balance a pencil on its eraser end on the table. "I just saw a movie that had something like this," she said. "Hey, Apollo! Wanna see a magic trick?" Finally, the pencil balanced.

Athena suddenly scooted backwards in her chair, away from the pencil. "Whoa, no!" she cried. "I saw that movie, too! I don't like how it ends."

"What are you talking about?" Trucy replied, smiling deviously. "I'm just gonna make this pencil…" She waved a hand over it, and suddenly it vanished. "… Disappear." Athena shot Trucy an unamused look. "Okay… that wasn't so bad."

"Of course not!" Trucy replied, scratching at her ear. Suddenly, the pencil reappeared, tucked behind her air. Athena couldn't help but chuckle a little.

Trucy put her hands on her hips. "Looks like Mr. Comatose over there wasn't paying attention!" she pouted.

Apollo ignored her. "I'm melting…" he mumbled. Athena resumed fanning herself. "Yeah, and where are the repair guys, anyway?" she demanded. "They know how the weather gets here."

"They're probably sitting in their nice, cool repair van, laughing at our misfortune," Apollo grumbled back. Suddenly, the telephone rang. "Can someone who's not me get that?"

Trucy hoisted herself onto the table, sitting cross-legged on the surface. "Dad!" she shouted. "Can you get that?"

From the other room came another voice. "Apollo, you pick it up!" it boomed. "It's for you!"

With a disgruntled sigh, Athena rose and walked over to the telephone. "Oh, for the love of God! We can't keep the client waiting!" She plucked the phone from its hook. "Hello, Wright Anything Agency!" She paused. The buzzing of the other voice could barely be heard through the earpiece. "Yes… Yes, he's here. Hold on a minute, please."

She pulled the phone away. "Apollo! They're looking for you!" Apollo picked his head up from the couch and gave her a look of disbelief. Athena scowled at him.

'Hurry up!' she mouthed fiercely. Finally, he dragged himself over to the phone and took it. "This is Apollo Justice," he said, tugging at his collar and trying to sound not miserable. "Oh… uh, that's unfortunate. No, no, I didn't mean… Yes? Well… Of course, that would be fine. Uh, what time tomorrow morning? Okay… okay, that sounds good! Yes… all right, good bye." He placed the receiver back on the hook.

Immediately, Trucy jumped up. "Another case, right?" she cried excitedly. "Let's hop to it!"

"Whoa, slow down there," Apollo replied. "We're meeting them tomorrow morning."

"So? Let's go to the crime scene! Honestly, it's like you've forgotten everything!"

"I haven't even accepted the case yet."

"What?"

Suddenly, Phoenix poked his head in from the other room. "I hope you do take it," he said. "The defendant is very… interesting. I can't wait until you meet them."

"That doesn't sound like a good thing," Apollo said. "Why didn't you take it, if you've already met the defendant?"

"I'm busy." With that, he disappeared. Apollo sighed. "Busy? Sure. I was also busy. Busy melting into a sad little puddle."

"Hey, cheer up!" Trucy chirped. "At least the detention center has air conditioning!"

"If you'll just wait here, the defendant will be out in a minute," the security guard told the two as they sat on their side of the glass panel. Apollo and Trucy looked at each other curiously.

"Usually the defendant is here before us," Trucy said, tapping on her chin. "Oh well. Circumstances change. Hey!" She pulled out her phone. "Guess what? There's this really cool video I saw this morning that—."

"Oh shit," a voice drawled. Trucy nearly dropped her phone. Both turned to face the glass and saw that the defendant had arrived. And Phoenix hadn't been kidding.

She wore an olive tanktop. Around her neck was a silver chain that held a single dog tag, of which he couldn't read the etchings. Her right forearm was covered in tattoos, the biggest of which was the globe, anchor, and eagle—the US Marines emblem. Her hair was cut short into a buzz cut, and her ears held a number of piercings.

"I didn't know you were a kid," the woman said roughly, leaning back on the chair with one arm. "Well they might as well send me to prison right now."

Trucy flashed Apollo a nervous glance. Apollo cleared his throat. "Um… Teresa Everett, right?"

"Terry," she snapped.

"Oh, okay. So, Terry…"

"Listen, I know it's early and the daycare isn't open yet," Terry interrupted, leaning forward onto the table with both arms, "but don't you have somewhere else to be?"

"Terry, I'm trying to help you," Apollo said firmly. "But I can only do so much without your cooperation."

The woman stared at him with a steely gaze for a few seconds. Finally, with a loud exhale, she leaned back and crossed her arms across her chest. "Fine," she said. "So does that mean you're taking on my case?"

"I will."

"No hesitation," Terry remarked. "You've got some trace of a backbone, kid. You'd take care not to break it, though."

"I know what I'm doing," Apollo reassured. He sat there in silence for a few seconds, tapping into his thoughts. "So… um… I'm going to need to ask you a few questions."

"Let me start with the obvious: no, I didn't do it. I wouldn't be that stupid," Terry said.

Apollo nodded. "Of course. I believe you, and I'm going to try my best to make everyone else believe that too. Now, did you know the victim?"

Terry's answers to each of his questions were pretty straightforward, but the story they told was concerning. According to Terry, she wasn't even near the scene of the crime when it happened. She claimed she was at home, but unfortunately had no one to back up that alibi. But what bothered Apollo was why anyone would accuse her of being the murderer in the first place if she wasn't there. If that were the case, then why would the witness (there was going to be one; let's not kid ourselves) accuse her?

Eventually, Apollo ran out of questions to ask. There wasn't much information Terry could provide, granted that her story was true. Silence fell on both sides of the glass. Terry, her arm still crossed, stared deeply with her eyes lowered.

Finally, she broke the silence. "You… can prove my innocence, right?" Her voice had grown uncharacteristically soft.

Startled, Apollo looked at her. Her gaze was still down. He glanced at Trucy.

"We'll try our hardest," Trucy replied gently. "We won't rest until we get that verdict."

Terry sighed, bringing her hand up and rubbing the bridge of her nose. "She's going to freak out," she groaned. "Jesus Christ."

"Uh… Who?" Apollo asked.

Terry looked up. The first signs of fatigue had finally settled over her hardened features. "My sister. She's in New York right now. I haven't called her yet because of… reasons, but she's sure as shit going to find out somehow. Oh my god, she's going to freak the fuck out. Hey, can you do something for me?"

"Yeah, sure. What is it?"

"When she finds out, she's going to try to call me. My phone got taken when they hauled me in here. It'll help if there's someone there to pick up and reassure her that I'm fine. And can you tell her to… to stay in New York? She doesn't need to worry about me."

Apollo paused. "I'll see what I can do. Where is it now?"

"My phone? One of the uniforms took it, last I remember."

"Thanks," Apollo said, standing up. "See you later, Terry."

"Oh, hey!" Terry called out. Apollo stopped. "It's… uh, it's probably crawling with uniforms at this point, but could you stop by my place? I need someone to look after Mordy for me."

"Mordy?"

"My dog," Terry said. "If you could do that, that'd be great."

"No problem."

Terry's apartment was halfway across the city. By the time they arrived, the cab fare was ridiculous. Trucy put on an innocent smile as she hopped out of the cab, saying that she had forgotten her money back at the Agency. Apollo grudgingly paid the fare and followed her.

Terry was right. There were a few cruisers parked outside the apartment building. As Apollo scanned the area, he also spotted a motorcycle. "Oh great," he mumbled. Trucy looked back at him. "What's wrong?"

"Guess who's also here?" He rolled his eyes. "Couldn't resist the party, I suppose."

"Silly little you. Don't you know the party doesn't start without me?" a familiar voice retaliated. Apollo closed his eyes and sighed heavily while Trucy smiled politely.

"It seems like fate has placed us in another case together," Klavier continued. "You're here to sniff around for evidence, I presume? Look all you want. Go over to the crime scene and scour there, even! This is one case you won't be winning."

"You sound so sure of yourself," Apollo said. "Don't tell me you have some sort of special witness under your belt?"

Klavier Gavin chuckled. "You know it," he said. "The best witness. This one doesn't lie, doesn't falter, and has no contradictions. Sorry, but you lost the moment you took this case."

"What are you talking about?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. You'll find out."

Suddenly, Trucy spotted something in Klavier's hand. "Hey, that…!" she said. "Apollo, isn't that…?"

Apollo followed her gaze and saw the smartphone with a black and white case. "Terry's phone!" he said. "What are you doing with it?"

"The police chief handed it to me," Klavier explained. "How did you know what this was?"

"The defendant asked me to take it for her," Apollo said. "So… could you hand it over?"

"Hmm… that sounds rather odd," Klavier noted. "Still, I can't just—." Suddenly the smartphone lit up and began vibrating, buzzing loudly in his hand. All three glanced down at the screen as an 'Incoming Call' notification popped up, followed by a name and a contact picture.

The picture was of a young woman, sitting on a carpeted floor. She had long, black, wavy hair and, though Apollo would only quietly admit this to himself, was quite lovely. Lying across her lap was a large German Shepherd dog. The girl was laughing and flinching as the dog licked at her chin. At the top of the screen, the caller's name was listed as 'Dinky Doo.'

Definitely a sister, Apollo thought. He raised his gaze and noticed a sudden change in Klavier's demeanor. He was staring down at the phone with a shocked expression. There seemed to be something else in his eyes. It was as though he had just seen a ghost, but Apollo couldn't quite tell.

"That's her!" Trucy cried. She quickly snatched the phone out of Klavier's hand and shoved it at Apollo. "Hurry up! Remember what Terry said?" Klavier didn't seem to react.

Apollo straightened up. "Oh, right!" he said. He turned and began walking away as he answered the call, bringing the phone up to his ear. "This is Apollo Justice."

Addendum: The Dark Knight references. Hockey pants.

Also, I feel your pain. It's 85F, but the humidity is off the charts. If you want to find me, look down, and try not to get your socks wet.