A/N: Another day, another story! This would have went up yesterday, because I finished planning it around noon, but I got distracted watching a translation of The Great Turnabout on youtube.

And we all thought Phoenix had bad luck…

Well, here we go with this story! This one will be in first person, going between Apollo and Phoenix.

Well, ONWARD!

Chapter One – The Courtroom Bombing

Apollo

The Trial of Solomon Starbuck

It had been a long morning, with yesterday being just as long.

But finally, finally it looked like this trial was started to turn in my favor.

"It seems we'll have to hear the testimony of these first two people on the scene," the Judge conceded to my point. I smirked, crossing my arms.

Score!

"Come to think of it, Detective Arme should be here in court right now," the judge continued. I quickly glanced down at my notes, shuffling through the papers to find the profiles of the people connected to the case. Candice Arme is a police detective specializing in bomb disposal and one of the first on the scene of the crime. As a police detective, her testimony would hopefully be more trustworthy then most witnesses.

I glanced over at Detective Fulbright, remembering the other times Athena or I had to cross-examine him.

Hopefully.

"Bailiff," the Judge looked over at the man standing next to the Judge's stand. "Could you please show Detective Arme to the stand?" The officer nodded, and stepped away from the stand, heading towards the door.

"Hold it!" a voice yelled from the gallery. Everyone looked over to see a man, dressed kind of like an officer, but like an alien at the same time, run over, jumping over the low wall separating the gallery from the rest of the room, and standing at the witness stand. As always, Prosecutor Blackquill was unruffled. Looking at the man closer, I recognized him as the other bomb specialist, Ted Tonate.

"I-I have an announcement, everyone!" he called. His voice was overtly calm, but it was clear something was wrong.

"Wh-what's the meaning of this? We're in the middle of a trial here!" the Judge demanded.

"P-please remain calm and listen carefully," Tonate said, before motioning to the odd stuffed animal that contained the bomb, the evidence. "Someone has reactivated the bomb! The bomb was diffused, but, but, but…" his voice seemed to fail him for a minute, but he found it quickly again. "I-it's about to explode!"

"Ex-EXPLODE!?" the Judge, Athena, and I exclaimed, all at the same time. Despite Tonate's warning to remain calm, the gallery erupted into chaos, everyone talking at the same time.

I, however, was furious. "A bomb? Now?!" I demanded. This trial was too important to interrupt! Someone bombed the Space Station, my best friend was murdered, a man I highly respected was on trial for it, I finally have an advantage to press, and someone picks now to bomb the courtroom!?

"Aaaagh! Everybody run!"

"Eeeeek! I don't want to die!"

"Oh, no!" Athena gasped. "Everybody's panicking!"

"SILENCE!" Blackquill suddenly snapped. Surprisingly, everyone fell quiet. He slammed his fists down on the desk. "Headless chickens with a death wish, the lot of you! Calm yourselves afore all else!" he said. Athena, on the other hand, turned to me.

"C'mon, Apollo! Let's get out of here!"

I clenched my firsts on the top of the table, anger coursing through me. "But what about Mr. Starbuck's dream? And who will carry out Clay's final wish?" I slammed my fists down. "I don't care what happens to me! I'm not letting some bomb blow the truth up forever! I… I…" A picture flashed before my eyes. It was of Clay and me, just after he graduated from space training. We had an arm around each other. He was wearing the jacket that was part of the Space Station's uniform, something he got when he graduated, and something he always wanted. I closed my eyes for a minute before pointing forward. "I refuse to let things end here!"

"Apollo, this is not time to be dramatic!" Athena yelled at me, and I had to work to keep the scowl off my face. "If we don't get out of here now, we're gonna die!" She grabbed my arm, dragging me behind. "C'MON! THIS WAY!"

"Hey! Ouch! Let me go!" I yelled at her. In the chaos, I managed to get my arm free. Court had already fallen apart. I couldn't do anything. Mr. Starbuck's dream… Clay's wish… the truth would be lost…

"Apollo!" a frantic voice yelled just as I took a step towards the door. I turned and spotted Athena's friend.

"J-Juniper?" I gasped. She hasn't evacuated yet?

She began to run over to us, but tripped, falling to the ground. "Eeeeek!"

"J-Juniper!" I called, starting towards her. "Are you all right?!"

"Apollo! No! Not that way!" Athena yelled after me. I ignored her. She must not have seen Juniper.

BOOOOOM!

The explosion made me stumble. I don't know how I managed to catch myself. Guess the shockwave didn't hit me yet. Juniper, on the other hand, was still on the ground where she fell. She looked up, and screamed when seeing debris falling towards her.

Without thinking, I dove forward, protecting her with my own body, protecting my head and neck with my arms. The rocks and debris slammed into my back and arms. The shockwave slammed into me. Fire licked at my arms.

It was too much.

I couldn't handle it.

I screamed in pain and blacked out.

A/N: And here we are. This is what happened in the game (with me adding more to Apollo's feelings that is visible in his poses), setting up the rest of the story.

Poor Polly…