A/N: Takes place after the 3rd case of AJ (July 7th), and before the last case (October 6th). AU, assumes Wright didn't succeed in advocating for the Jurist system and didn't get a trial case.
Edgeworth finally decided to take matters into his own hands. For all of Manfred Von Karma's teachings he rejected, Edgeworth still believes revenge is Justice.
Apollo/Klavier Gavin, though I hesitate to call it a relationship.
Will eventually be Wright/Edgeworth.
Rated PG for now, will go up to M in the next couple of chapters.
Chief Prosecutor's Office
September 17, 7:17 AM
"Ch-Chief Prosecutor, sir? You wanted to see me sir?" Apollo was sweating bullets. Sure he always talked big, but it's not every day a greenhorn lawyer with barely three cases under his belt was called in by the Chief Prosecutor.
"Apollo Justice, yes? Come in. Close the door behind you if you please."
"Yes sir! I'm fine sir! Thank you for asking sir!" Apollo blurted out, turning beet red when he realized the question had never been asked.
The man opposite him looked faintly amused, if that fraction of a smile was actually an indication of amusement. "How do you do, Mr. Justice."
"Fine! Sir!" The answer was really a reflex. Defying all limitations of the human body, Apollo reddened even more. Gathering whatever little wits left, he decided to change the subject. "You asked to see me, sir?"
"Despite what you may have heard, Mr Justice, I do not bite." The Chief Prosecutor chuckled once, "The reason I requested your service has to do with your upcoming case."
"The Millard case, sir?" Apollo confirmed.
"Yes. Prosecutor Gavin is leading the investigation and there has been rumors..." There was a pregnant pause, Apollo didn't have time to figure out what it meant before the man continued. "I have utmost faith in all evidence Prosecutor Gavin presents, but I do need you to question it during your upcoming trial so he could provide the necessary justifications. Especially the murder weapon."
It would sound too forced, almost suspiciously so, if Gavin defended his evidence without being challenged, Apollo understood. So basically the man is telling him Gavin laid a trap, and he needs to walk right into it. Is this what goes on behind closed doors in the Chief Prosecutor's office? Actually, it's not nearly as bad as people say.
"Yes sir," Apollo nodded reluctantly, the two antennae he calls hair drooped down unhappily, like the case isn't hard enough for him already. An armed robbery gone wrong, the defendant Joey Millard was seen robbing a convenience store, fled the scene, and was caught in his apartment half-an-hour later with the money still in his bag. Apollo will just have to work even harder and power through! He always does. "I'll make sure to examine the murder weapon closely."
"Thank you Mr. Justice."
Apollo saw his cue and moved towards the door.
"One last thing, Mr. Justice."
Apollo turned back, he noticed a flash of green, a piece of jade that the Chief Prosecutor was rotating between his fingers in a single fluid motion. Come to think of it, he might have seen something like that on Mr. Wright. Is it like an old lawyer thing?
"Your mentor is Phoenix Wright, is it not?" It still felt strange to have His name leave his tongue, and have somebody else hear it.
"Yes, sir." Apollo nodded, apparently everybody thinks so now and he had given up trying to correct them.
"And you would defend him if necessary?"
"Of course!" Apollo replied, alarmed.
"Whatever it takes?"
"Whatever it takes!" Sure, Mr. Wright is a secretive, manipulative jerk who discusses his daughter's panties with a man he just met, but deep down, he's a good person. Deep, deep down. "Is he charged with something?"
No psych locks.
"No. You may go Mr. Justice."
"But-" Apollo wanted to ask more.
"You may go, Mr. Justice."
The younger lawyer reluctantly headed to his case, his mind now enthralled with the mysteries surrounding Phoenix Wright.
In front of the Court Room Building,
September 17, 7:28AM
"Thank you, Trucy. I do not think I shall have need for it in the near future." Edgeworth handed the Magatama back.
"No problem, Mr. Edgeworth." Trucy smiled brightly, "I'll hide it back in Daddy's dresser, he'll just think he misplaced it again."
Wright's mental state was beginning to worry him.
"How is he doing?"
"Daddy's okay, I think." Trucy tilted her head, recalling Wright's latest misadventure, "He didn't break anything, so that's always good. Are you sure you don't want to come over?"
"No." Not while that cursed stone is in Wright's possession, he can't find out what Edgeworth has been up to. Wright had always upheld the law, almost to the letter. But there's a time for law, and there's a time for justice. Wright tried it his way, it didn't work. Now it's time to change things up. Edgeworth spaced out for a second, 'change things up', that's the sort of thing Wright would have said, seven years ago.
"I could hide the Magatama again so Daddy wouldn't have it when you see him." Trucy had a mischievous grin that made even Edgeworth uncomfortable.
Curses, this girl had a gift in reading people, and she was holding that stone. Still...
"If you succeed, I will stop by later."
Courtroom 2,
September 17, 11:22AM
Take That!
An average-looking butcher knife appeared on screen for the court to see, stained with a rust-red.
"Even though Herr Forehead had battled valiantly for the defendant, I'm afraid the Prosecution has definitive proof, the murder weapon."
Klavir Gavin shook his head, long locks of blond hair tumbled down gracefully and crashed against his collarbone, at least half of the peanut gallery was his fangirls, the volume of their collective squeals could rival Apollo's Chords of Steel.
Apollo found himself a little jealous, he shook his head too, only to have one of his two well-gelled antenna fall flat against his face. He blew at it, and it stood back up, wavering only slightly in the breeze generated by the courtroom ventilation system.
"The knife is one of a set of knives belonging to the defendant, it was found under the bed with the defendant's fingerprint. The blade matches the wound perfectly."
Objection!
"S-so what? His knife would obviously have his fingerprints. And it's not a special weapon, there're probably a lot of knives just like it out there!" Apollo pounded both fists on the table for emphasis, but the case was beginning to look worse and worse for his client.
"But those knives wouldn't have the victim's blood on the tip, ja?" Klavier leaned forward with a picture perfect smile.
Apollo distinctly heard shouts of 'we love you Klavier!" from the gallery and that certainly did not help his case. Question the weapon, he remembered the request from earlier that morning, right, question the weapon, like he has a choice. If the weapon is accepted at face value, his case is over.
"This certainly does not look good for the defense. Mr. Justice, do you have anything to add?" The Judge commented.
"Yes Your Honor." Apollo straightened up and nodded. "Prosecutor Gavin, you told the court this knife was found under the bed of the defendant? But there were thirty-five minutes between the crime and the time of my client's arrest, at his home. Are you claiming he knew the knife was there, but happened to forget to clean the murder weapon?"
"That doesn't seem very likely." The Judge was easily swayed yet again.
"You'll find, Herr Forehead, murderer are not usually smart people. Most murderers plan meticulously before a crime, but fail to consider the clean-up afterwards. That's why I always get them!"
Objection!
"Baseless conjecture!"
"Very well. Let's ask your client then, shall we?" Klavier smiled again, Apollo swore he saw Gavin's blue eyes twinkle.
"Mr. Millard." Klavier addressed the middle-aged man in the defendant's box without calling him to the witness stand. "You were here listening to the trial since the very beginning, so I will give you a chance to decide."
"Wait! Decide what?" Apollo was so startled he forgot to use 'Objection'.
"The Prosecution is offering a plea bargain. The Defendant may plead guilty now, and get 17 years for armed robbery and manslaughter. Or wait till the end of the trial, and be prosecuted to the fullest extend of the law."
Klavier Gavin banged his fist on the wooden panel behind him.
"Now choose!"
"I-" The Defendant, Joey Millard, stuttered, "I p-plead, guilty."
"Wait! Joey! Are you sure you want to do this!" Apollo clawed the defense bench, trying in vain to climb over it to get to his client, so stunned that he forgot entirely about the door. "If you're innocent, we can prove it! I know things look bad, but we'll pull through! I gave you my word and-"
"I would request the Defense to stop badgering the Defendant." Klavier said with a triumphant smirk.
"Hey, that's my line!" The Judge protested. "Though I honestly don't think I have ever said something like that."
"Joey! Think about it! You don't want to throw your life away on something you didn't do!"
"The Defendant has full rights to decide on his own plea, regardless of the opinion of his attorney."
"I'm afraid that is correct, Mr. Justice." The Judge announced, "I now pronounce the Defendant-"
Objection!
Apollo shouted. At a time of crisis, squeals of fangirls from the gallery can't hold a candle to his Chords of Steel.
"Overruled." The Judge shook his head. "Unless you have some evidence you haven't shown to the court Mr. Justice, I'm afraid this trial is over."
Prosecutor's Office, in front of Room 1202
September 17, 2:24PM
"Did you consider knocking or was your sole purpose in coming here to wear a hole in my carpet, Mr. Justice?" Miles Edgeworth came out of his office, in front of which Apollo Justice had been pacing for the past fifteen minutes.
"Mr. Edgeworth, sir!" Apollo stood at attention, even his antennae pointed straight up, "I wanted to speak to you, about today's trial."
Edgeworth didn't need over a decade of experience as a lawyer to see Apollo's horror in confronting him, but the kid's voice was firm and his gaze never left the Chief Prosecutor. No wonder he reminded him of Wright.
"What would you like to say, Mr. Justice?"
"Huh? Just like that?" Apollo recoiled back as through running away from an expected attack. "Oh, right! About the trial today! I don't think Prosecutor Gavin should have offered my client a plea bargain during the trial."
"As the lead Prosecutor in the case, it's within his rights." Edgeworth replied smoothly.
"Joey shouldn't have been declared guilty!"
"Sometimes the accused will be guilty, Mr. Justice."
"But there're so many things we don't know still! Like," Apollo stuttered, "Like that money he stole. The cashier said $2000 was missing, but we only found $720."
"The cashier had been stealing from the till for months, she saw a chance and blamed it on your client."
"How can we be sure?"
"She had confessed the details of her crimes in exchange for not being charged."
"What about the witness who claim to have seen him, but couldn't even say what he was wearing?"
"Ah, Mr. Oldham. He had held a grudge against the Defendant for years. Another witness testified to seeing Mr. Oldham away from the scene during the time of the crime, I'm confident he faked the testimony."
'But the knife! Why didn't he wash the knife when he had the time?" Apollo protested.
"I'm afraid it's just like Prosecutor Gavin said, people make mistakes." Edgeworth replied dismissively. "Now Mr. Justice, I believe you should seek out your ex-client to satiate your curiosity instead.
Edgeworth went back into his office and closed the door, quite pleased with his own performance, each explanation to Apollo Justice's question was more suspect than the last. He might have been less convincing than Gumshoe.
Witness testimony, though given a similar weight in a court of law, is always the least reliable of all evidence. Offering only witness testimony to justify Prosecutor Gavin's decision would only fan the flames, after all, Edgeworth had always had a reputation for tampering with evidence. His defense of another Prosecutor would be more effective than a smear campaign. Edgeworth didn't mind dragging his own reputation through the mud again, as long as Klavier Gavin went along for the ride.
Oh Joey Millard was guilty of course. The cashier's testimony was confirmed by closely going over weeks of surveillance video prior to the crime. The witness' location was established using the GPS tracker on his phone, while he was making a phone call. But that information was not available to the public, or even to his fellow prosecutors, so rumors will only grow.
Even the knife was genuine, according to Detective Gumshoe. While Edgeworth had no faith in the detective's detective skills, he has no doubt as to the man's honesty. On the other hand, when he inspected the morgue with Klavier Gavin, he made a post-mortem incision on the body of the victim. Not large enough to be obvious, but enough to bleed. It bled enough to stain the sheets a little and, for example, contaminate a butcher knife and declare it the murder weapon. Not that it was necessary, not that anybody would believe otherwise.
This wouldn't bring anybody down, a post mortem wound might have been incurred due to a number of reasons, but this is only the beginning.
Seven years, Wright had fought to amend their justice system, forgoing even the fight to get his badge back. Forgiving, even forgetting the man who took his badge away in the first place.
Edgeworth doesn't plan on being as generous.
A/N:
More will be revealed next chapter as to what happened in the last 7 years, why everybody did what they did, and what Edgeworth's plans are etc.
Thank you for reading, please review and let me know what you think!