72 Hours: Act 1 Trucy's gone Missing

By

triviatrap1982

I do not own Ace Attorney. It is owned by Capcom.

It was a bright sunny day, and Phoenix Wright was studying hard to get his law license back. After all, he brought down Kristoph Gavin...twice. He also introduced the now discarded Jurist system. As the Vera Misham case was only a test case. Still, he's met interesting people along the way in the seven years he's not practiced law. The biggest change is that he adopted Trucy after her biological father disappeared from the courts during his trial. That trial was never completed, and Nick got disbarred just as quickly. He knew he was going to be hit for using forged evidence. However, he accepted it the same as Miles Edgeworth has in his situation...that SL-9 incident. Phoenix was interrupted from his thoughts by Trucy who was ready to go to school. She really actually liked going, but didn't want to continue changing schools if things got too bad. Though financially, things were stable. Nick still "played" the piano at the Borscht Bowl where he befriended Olga Orly...who did try to set him up. He also still "played" at the Wonderbar, where Trucy did her magic acts on a weekly basis.

"Good morning," Nick said, "ready for another day of school?"

"I am," Trucy said happily.

"You're leaving Mr. Hat here?" he asked. She normally had him on her person at all times.

"Yeah, I don't think I have to work tonight," Trucy said.

"Well, check your planner," Nick warned.

"Oh, I can do that after school," she teased.

"Well, if I'm not here you have your key," Nick said.

"I think Polly would be here...there haven't been a lot of cases for him of late."

"That's true," he said with a chuckle. "I can't blame him for wanting to get to it...I was the same way when I was his age once."

"I got to go daddy," she said kissing his cheek.

"Have fun, and learn something," he teased.

"I will," she teased back.

Trucy went to school as usual. Mr. Wright thought it was unusual that Trucy would leave Mr. Hat behind. He also looked on his desk, and she left he day planner behind as well. He shook his head when he leafed through it. He found that Trucy had to work tonight. He knew she had he cell phone on her, and he made a call to her. He got her voice mail. He let her know that she left her day planner at home, and he also let her know she had to work tonight. He heard Apollo come in huffing. He did over sleep. He looked up and smiled. He saw that his vest was half-done, and he didn't have his tie on. He spoke up.

"It seems your Chords of Steel routine got the better of you?" Nick asked.

"No, I just was up all night watching old court room dramas," Apollo said.

"Ah, so you share the same film choice as our judge." Nick returned.

"Well, you mind if I got decent?" Apollo asked.

"Of course not," Nick said, "after all, you'll never know who will drop in.

Apollo thanked him and ran to the bathroom. He needed to get completely dressed. Nick could only laugh. This was something that he actually never envisioned. Still, Apollo reminded him of...him. He was the same way when he first started out law. However, an unexpected visitor came in. He looked and he knew that scowl...and that whip. It was Franziska von Karma. He sighed; he knew exactly how she operated. Her version of hello was a crack of the whip...that could break the sound barrier. It got a huge workout during the Matt Engarde incident. She wanted to whip him for getting disbarred, but she remembered that he got used to it. She sat down, and spoke up forcefully.

"You foolish fool...you let yourself got taken by forged evidence..." Franziska said, nearly melting the paint off the wall with her voice.

"Yup," Nick admitted, "though I learned a lot since then."

"It's just like you to turn a negative into a positive," she smiled. "I hear you have a daughter."

"Yes, I just sent her off to school," he said. "I did have to remind her she had to work tonight."

"Wait a second...?"

"I adopted her," Nick answered before she could even make an assumption.

"Idiot, you're taking on a kid with no income!" Franziska hissed ready to whip him.

"Nah, that wasn't a problem...I didn't do anything illegal," he returned. "I trust you're here because of business."

"I just wanted to drop in to see how foolish you really are," she snapped.

"I think you whipped it out of me years ago," Nick laughed.

"That wasn't funny," Franziska huffed.

"I did get an associate on board, which will be of major help when I get my license back," Nick informed her.

"Really now...who is this unlucky person?"

Apollo came out of the bathroom, finally cleaned up and ready to go. Nick introduced him to Franziska von Karma. In the past seven years, her appearance has changed. That is...she had longer hair down to her shoulder. Her dress was also reminiscent of the one she wore when she was a kid...but she's filled out a lot. The one thing that didn't change was the whip that she always carried. In fact, she's gotten faster and harsher with it during her travels. There were even rumors that she traveled to Mt. Fuji in Japan to practice. That however was just a rumor. Franziska wasn't powerful, or even a goddess. She had lost two major cases against Mr. Wright. The first one was Mimi Miney, and Morgan Fey framing up Maya...and the second one...this was the death of Russ Berry. She was still bitter about that surprise search that turned about on her. Later, at the end of the long day, Trucy was out of school. She took out her cell and listened to the voice mail. She gasped that she forgot her day planner...and needed to go to work tonight! She rushed home to get Mr. Hat. On her way there, she came to the alley connecting the wonder bar, the Park, and the Kotaki manor. Of course, before she could do anything else...she was knocked out and thrown in a vessel. After that, Trucy woke up. She was in a very strange place, it was dark and she was disoriented.

"W-Where am I?" Trucy asked.

"Don't concern yourself with that," a mysterious voice said. "Concern yourself with your own life."

"I'm...going to die?" Trucy asked again.

"That depends on a certain person..." that voice returned. "Don't worry I won't lay a finger on you...at all."

This worried Trucy. She had heard of this happening from Nick. She believed him when he recalled he Matt Engarde situation. However, she didn't think that she would be the victim of a kidnapping. She was worried sick. She was without her cell phone, and her backpack. She also knew that something was going to be going horrifically wrong. She decided she'd have to cooperate, because if she tried to run...she may well die on the spot. The kidnapper realized that and spoke up again.

"You seem to have taken the path of least resistance, to cooperate," the Kidnapper said.

"I...can't do anything right now..." Trucy said. She was quite weak.

"Well...unlike my mentor...I won't leave you wasting away to die...I will at least feed you once a day...for three days."

Trucy's heart sunk. She knew she needed help right away. She also didn't know what time it was, or what time of day it was. It was a few hours, and Nick called the Wonderbar. Nobody saw her; in fact her show was cancelled since she didn't show up. That wouldn't have been a problem if she were sick. However, she was perfectly healthy, and she was perfectly alive. Considering what happened years ago...Nick came to one conclusion. Trucy has been snatched, and he needed to get the cops involved. He also knew to be calm, and not try to freak out. If he'd done that...well...that would cause things to fall apart. He made a call to an old friend, Ema Skye and he explained exactly what was going on.

"Okay," Ema said, "We'll get right on it."

"Thank you," Nick said, "time is of the essence."

"I'll call to let you know what's going on...in the meantime..."

"I'll keep calm."

"It wouldn't do anything to help if you panicked."

"Something tells me that I may well have to push Apollo out on this one," Nick then said.

"What do you mean?" Ema asked.

"I know the kidnapper is counting on me to forget about Trucy...but the thing is...I won't be."

"Oh...that's pretty smart," Ema returned. "Should I get Klavier involved?"

"No, not yet," he answered, "I have a better idea."

He didn't let her know on what he was planning. Ema knew what he wanted to do. She ended the call and got the report right away. She knew that he would never joke about something like this. In fact, she's even heard from Edgeworth about the Matt Engarde situation. Ema got sick to her stomach on hearing that story. Still, she wanted to do all she could to help. Actually, she would welcome help from Apollo and whomever he was assigned to. Apollo and Franziska came back, and were told the situation. Franziska was not amused. Apollo looked and knew something bad must have happened back then. Mr. Wright explained everything.

"Well...I have told you about that Matt Engarde situation right?" he asked.

"I believe I read about it," Apollo returned. "I believe Ms. von Karma was shot in her shoulder to keep her from prosecuting that trial."

"Yes...however, let's just say that Ms. von Karma's whip did a lot of talking to him after...considering he's safer in prison right now," Nick returned.

"There is one thing though...I never got around to reading the actual verdict on that case," Apollo admitted.

"He took the guilty plea...because Shelly de Killer would have straight out murdered him if he were set free," Franziska added.

"I believe i heard of that person...he's an assassin who values honest above all else," Apollo then remarked.

"Of course," Nick said, "I should be getting a radio transmitter about...now!"

There was a dull thud at the door. He opened it, and opened the package. He knew exactly what was going on. He waited for the transmitter to turn on. Once it did, he waited. He had Apollo and Franziska keep quiet. If they were to freak out, then everything would go off the rails. Before anything could happen, the signal cut out. Mr. Wright kept it activated. He knew if it were turned off, he'd miss important information. This was going to prove to be a very tense few minutes. The silence was very much causing tension. He also noticed that he probably should call Ema after this to let her know exactly what was going on. He also looked at he calling card. This was something he recognized. He knew the time was starting now...and there was no time to waste. The signal came back in and the Kidnapper spoke up. Nick noticed that the person had a feminine voice. There was no voice changer effect, so he was correct.

"I take it you're the student of Shelly de Killer," Nick said, not wasting any time.

"I am," the kidnapper said. "I know you already called the cops."

"I did so before I received your gift," he answered honestly.

"So it seems," she said. "I am a de Killer...you've tangled with my father."

"I don't think you're here to reminisce about the past, you've got a job for myself and my associates."

"That is correct...you will have only 72 hours to find your beloved daughter."

"I'm well aware of the stakes," Nick said grimly.

"Good, we're on the same page...the clock is ticking so I suggest you get started," she returned.

"Oh...one word of caution...don't think there's a thing as a perfect crime...it doesn't exist."

The kidnapper cut the radio transmission short. Nick knew why. The longer he kept her on, the easier it would have been for Ema to trace back the signal. However in the short few minutes, it was traced back...but clear across town far away from Trucy. Nick looked to Apollo and Franziska. She cursed getting involved, but he did help her out quite a few times. She looked to Apollo and glared at him. This was a promise that he will be on his best behavior...and he will do his best. Nick looked and he let them go off. He did give them a piece of information to get them started. Check out the Wonderbar to see if anything turns up there. The clock was ticking and they hurried to get out. Meanwhile, Trucy was still sitting in the dark...she can't see even her own hand in front of her. She was hoping, praying that they found her before it was too late.