CHAPTER 1
Do you know the feeling of total disconnection? Like if your brain stopped working for a while? Everything is black, darkness is eating away your mind… And you feel like you are just empty shell. And then there's a click and that terrifying light. But this light isn't the one to show you a way. It's the one that hurts you even if it claims that finally, everything is as it should be. Today, finding out the "truth" felt the same way. ****
For the first time in my life I hated myself for winning the case and claiming defendant a "Guilty".
For the very first time it felt wrong, like a betrayal of the only person that believed to me no matter what had happened. I've failed. So hard… And there wasn't a way back. Even though you were smiling. You… You - fool!
'I…. I'm sorry…. So sorry…. Wright….'
It's been a usual day for a prosecutor, who just closed his last case. Successfully.
Doing paperwork, making notes about the trial, summing it up somehow… Nothing really interesting. I sighed and placed another paper on a pile that was growing next to my hand. Old evidence, my statement about the case… I should hand these documents to detective Gumshoe, he is probably waiting for it so they can also officially close the case in The Police Department.
Oh my…
I stood up, taking phone to my hands. It would be better to call him now, so I won't have to search him all around the city later, if he was by a chance at the place of another crime scene.
I was about to dial his number, when suddenly, doors slammed open and detective was standing right there in a front of me.
"Mister… Mister Edgeworth!" He was panting, probably running all the way here. At any rate, I was quite… happy to see him. At least I didn't have to go to Police Department. I picked up the pile on my desk.
"Detective Gumshoe, I'm glad to see you here. I have some document for you considering the official closing of case of murder-…"
"Murder…. Yes… Murder! Mister, something horrible happened in a court's building!"
I frowned. Horrible? He mentioned murder also… But what kind of idiot would coming a murder in the building of the court?!
"There are many of guards, there's almost 100% possibility of being arrested on the spot!" I mumbled under my nose and sighed. Work is calling - again… I looked at Gumshoe.
"Then I will need to check the scene of crime, if it is possible?"
"Yes, b-but…!"
"Also, there must be some crucial clues and new evidences we need to collect. What about the autopsy report? Time of crime?"
"Yesterday's night, b-but-!"
"Okay. The last thing for now – defendant? And who is going to represent him?" I took few steps towards door. Sooner we start searching, sooner we find out the truth…
"Mister Edgeworth, sir, it's about Wright!"
"Oh…? So he finally got his badge back, I see?" Maybe they realized their mistake? I couldn't suppress smile. It's been some time.
"No! Mister Edgeworth! The defendant… Phoenix Wright was found at the scene of crime yesterday and arrested! He is accused of the murder of one of Bar Association!"
There was a loud thud as pile of documents from my hand hit the ground. The papers scattered around the floor under my feet. I was… paralyzed, looking at detective with shocked face. That just couldn't be happening! But thinking about endless luck of that idiot…
"There must be some mistake…"
"I'm afraid that… Mister Wright confessed to this crime!"
"C-CONFESSED?!" Nonsense! Wright could be everything, but murderer…. I turned on my heel, leaving confused detective behind. I heard him calling me but I didn't even turn around. There was something I just… couldn't believe into.
"I need to speak to him…"
"You look stressed…"
"Me?! STRESSED?! Wright what the hell do you think you are doing?!"
"Sitting in Detention Center obviously."
"Wright, immediately stop with this charade!"
"What charade?"
He was looking at me as if everything was as it should be. I shook my head. This man… He had changed a lot after the disbarment. I haven't seen him for a while, but… I've always remembered the man that was like a sunshine, even it's really cheesy thing to say. Somehow naïve, maybe sarcastic inside, but well… He was that kind of person you could call 'always positive'.
WAS. Obviously. I couldn't believe that the man I was facing now was the same person from few years ago.
"What has happened yesterday?"
"The police officer haven't told you? It seems strange. I always thought that you will be the first one to whom detective Gumshoe will run. Seems like I was wrong. Hmpf… That wouldn't be the first time anyway."
"I want to know the truth, not your pointless version for police."
"Then I'm probably going to disappoint you, Edgeworth. It kind of… matches, you know. I took that pocket knife and stabbed him right to stomach. There was a loud noise as he collapsed. Mistake. Guards noticed me and here I am. Motive: Hate towards the one who voted for disbarring me. "
"Stop lying."
"What if I am not?"
There was a silence. Ex-defense attorney was looking at me with firm eyes. Then he chuckled.
"You are prosecutor. Shouldn't you be happy that I actually confessed to the crime? It's making your work so much easier. What's with that long face?"
"If this was supposed to be a joke, it was a poor one."
"Trucy says so too. I'm not only horrible ex-lawyer but also dad, who embarrass his daughter."
"DAUGHTER?!"
"Oh, I haven't mentioned her to you…"
NO. You haven't. Oh my…. My head was starting to hurt. How many things were hidden from me? Phoenix as father… That idea was crazy all alone. But well - seems like in this case, it was the most normal thing that I could find out actually. As if the situation wasn't pretty bad anyway…
"Are you…?"
"No, she isn't my biological daughter if you are going to ask that. I took her in after… Uh, never mind. I hope someone will take good care of her. She is great girl and she will reach all of her dreams one days."
So he took her in probably after being disbarred. And it looked like he was pretty fond of her. If I thought of it… that blue knit cap with some ridiculous badge and big PAPA written on it. It was pretty obvious. Oh my…
"Don't speak as if you were dead already."
"Oh I am not…. Yet. But I know how the trials are going. There's death for the cold blooded murderer, don't we know the best? Edgeworth? There's no way someone else could do it. They have all the evidence that is against me. I was the only one, who could do it. I was the only one who was in that building. And I won't object to it."
"I don't believe to it…"
"Oh here we go again…" Wright sighed and stood up. "But do you know what? It's… funny. Few years ago, I was sitting on your chair and you was sitting here. I was the same. Expect that time I was fighting for someone who wasn't guilty. Edgeworth… Do your job. Put the guilty one behind the bars. And everyone will be save. No one will die anymore, everything will be fine."
He smiled at me and then left, leaving the room and me behind, stunned and horrified.
****
"Autopsy Report….huh, let's see…" I opened the file I received from Detective Gumshoe. "The name of victim was Black Moore – one of the most important defense attorneys, also part of the Bar Association - Died due to the blood loss from one deep wound. The knife with defendant's - Phoenix Wright's fingerprints was found at the scene." I read. This sounded… Horrible. His fingerprints on the knife, the only person found in the building. Police department even confiscated Wright's mobile phone that had few of text messages. The one who proposed the meeting was Wright.
I remembered the words he said me in the detention center:
'There's no way someone else could do it. They have all the evidence that is against me. I was the only one, who could do it. I was the only one who was in that building.'
THAT IDIOT!
"Mister Edgeworth, sir?" I looked up and spotted Detective Gumshoe standing in my doors. He looked nervous. I nodded and put the autopsy away.
"Anything new related to case of Mr. Moore?"
"There was a defense attorney chosen for Mr. Wright already. He even spoke to him…"
"And?"
"That pal confessed. Again. He seems really… sure… about what had happened. And another thing is that the defense attorney that is going to represent him was also the close friend of the victim. And the member of Bar Association. "
Gumshoe almost jumped out of his skin as I swore. Of course, I should expect this! These were exactly the bad news. Defense attorney, right… Of course they won't fight for Phoenix but against him! No matter what has happened for real, the problem was clear here:
The one of them had died – and they believe that the murder had good reason – Phoenix Wright, whose badge has been taken away because of forged evidence – and they were the one, who were responsible for that. They are afraid, they don't want to die. ANY of them. He is possible danger – the one that needs to be taken care of. They don't need neither want the truth that would hurt THEM. To search inside? Hmpf. Oh, so much of work, when even the defendant confessed. Some of defense attorneys are really just thinking about their perfect records. And the members of that club… Even Hammond back then was a member and…
I hit the table and hissed. Detective looked away.
This situation would be the perfect one for a prosecutor – everything seemed so simple – you had all the things you've ever need – confession from the possible killer, clear evidence … The only thing that was missing was the "Guilty" verdict.
I shook my head and sat behind the table once again, searching through papers. Detective Gumshoe was looking at me for a while and then sighed and nodded.
****
The court was pretty crowded. I shouldn't expect anything else. The murder took place just a day ago, but it was everywhere – every TV station was speaking about it, great headlines were screaming at people from all the newspapers around the state – over the night, this case happened to be the one everyone was looking for.
I was waiting in front of defendant's lobby. I needed to speak to him before the trial starts. He must be hiding something. That man was anything but a murderer.
Suddenly, I heard a sound of footsteps and a woman in strange clothes and black hair – I remembered her appeared. Wasn't she Maya Fey, one of the Spirit mediums? And Phoenix's assistant. She was accompanied by little girl with brown hair and… what is that ridiculous fashion these days?! She looked like some kind of magician… But oh well, she was a child, so I guess it wasn't big deal.
Maya looked at me and nodded to me, smiling faintly. The girl next to her shot me questioning glance and cocked her head to the side.
"Are you a lawyer, sir?" She asked silently. I blinked few times. The question…. Was for me? I suppose so, there wasn't anyone else in the room. I nodded.
"So you will help my papa?"
Papa? So this was….?
"Are you Trucy Wright by a chance?" I asked surprised, looking at Maya, who nodded. Girl smiled but then saddened slightly.
"They say that Papa done something bad… But I don't believe it! Trucy knows him, he wouldn't!" She exclaimed loudly. Maya looked at me with worried eyes.
"…Mister Edgeworth, I know it's your job… but I don't believe that Nick…" She sighed and I nodded.
"Did you speak to him?" I asked silently but she immediately shook her head.
"They didn't allow us to go there." I saw that she tightened grip on Trucy's hand.
"It's unfair!" Trucy added and then frowned, looking at me curiously, again. "Mister Edgeworth?"
"Yes?"
"Papa mentioned you. You are his friend, right?" I blinked few times. Wright told her about me?! But I think I'm kind of glad, that I wasn't mentioned as a 'Prosecutor Demon' in Wright's family.
"I suppose…so…" I sighed. As she heard this, she smiled like a sunshine.
"Papa told me that you are good man and that you helped him many times." She clapped with her hands. "So… You will even now, right?" She looked at me with big eyes full of childish hope. I opened my mouth to say something but I closed it immediately. I couldn't openly lie to her. Help him…? I was a prosecutor. He was a defendant… We were standing on the opposite sides of court now. My job was to declare him 'Guilty'. But she was still just a child.
"… I will do my best."
Trucy's smile even broadened and she grabbed my hand.
"THANK YOU!"
Maya was looking at me with thankful eyes too.
'What have you gotten myself into…? Promising this! You know it's going to fail…' Some inner voice was screaming at me in my head. I looked at my watches. 10 AM. The court was about to start and Wright still wasn't here. I gritted my teeth. Of course, Edgeworth! They knew he was defending you back then! They cannot let anything to invade their perfect trial. And the relationships are the trickiest things in these trials. That's why they didn't allow Maya and Trucy to speak with him in detention center.
But now I should go and stand on my place in the court.
Maya nodded and gently took Trucy's hand again.
"We will see you after the trial…"
****
It was… exactly as I expected it to be. There weren't any Wright's friends allowed in the court. In first row, I could recognize most of the Bar Association members. They were waiting for the positive verdict – for THEM.
The defense attorney raised few objections, yes, so no one could complain. But everyone could see that it was already decided.
And that spiked-haired idiot? He was just sitting in the defendant's chair, nodding to every single accusation I put on him. Smiling at me, like if everything was okay. There was judge's voice, asking me, if I had anything to add.
The faint hope that Phoenix will stand up and actually say something that would help faded in the moment, when he just closed his eyes and hang down his head with a smile on his lips.
"The court finds defendant, Phoenix Wright, GUILTY."
It was over….
To be continued…
NOTES:
Hello, everyone! Welcome on the board of my second Ace Attorney fanfiction, I'm really glad and happy to have you here! Thank you for reading the first chapter (or let's say prologue?) of this FF, I hope you enjoyed it at least a little bit.
But… is that really over for Phoenix? Is he really the culprit? What do you think? What will happen to people around him? What will Miles do? Next time, we will find out. ;)
Now to the timeline and everything considering the story– this fanfiction is AU / or well, let's say that "Universe Altered" would fit this better (change of events, slightly even timeline of games or characters... But still in universe of game. Uh… I'm horrible at explaining things, I admit.). But generally speaking - story takes place after Phoenix was disbarred.
Also… This is going to get a bit darker. Probably darker than even I have expected /OhMyGodWhatHaveIDone/. I hope that I won't go too OOC with characters or characterizations. (But… I have that stupid feeling that I actually went down that path. *nervous laughter* Sorry.)
There is also a possibility that some tags will change during the process of writing.
*sigh* Sooo…. I think that will be all for now. That was… Whoa. A long essay for the chapter notes, don't you think?
Once again, thank you very much for reading! Feedback in any form would be lovely and I would be very thankful! Thanks again!
See you soon guys!
P.S.: I'm really sorry for all the mistakes in the text – typos, grammar, everything that seems wrong in there; they are mine alone, since I don't have a BETA reader and I'm NOT a native speaker. Thank you for your understanding.