1 - Turnabout Disappearance

A magician, cloaked in yellow, stood in front of the fire, his eyes gleaming in the light. The walls were covered in old posters, with big writing on them that said "Troupe Gramarye". On all of them, there were 2 men - 1 dressed in yellow robes, with long hair that reached the end of his waist; 1 dressed in an almost identical robe, except in a fiery red, with much shorter hair, tanned skin and a bushy mustache. There was also a woman in the middle of them, wearing an identical blue cloak and a black dress, with her hair parted into 2 loose ponytails. The mysterious man, bearing much resemblance to the yellow-robed "Gramarye", walked over towards a shelf and picked up a thin, gold object - a gun. A gun that had been used in an old magic act; A gun that had taken the life of his true love; A gun that almost had him imprisoned. And it was about to commit yet another, life-threatening deed.

Footsteps sounded from behind him. The man turned to see who it was.

But fate had other plans that dreary night...

"Trucy?"

Phoenix Wright shook his head, looking into the eyes of his adoptive daughter, Trucy Wright. Just the day before, she had been put on trial for the murder of her deceased biological father's best friend and love rival, none other than the famous magician, Valant Gramarye. Of course, Phoenix didn't believe one bit that Trucy had killed Valant - even though she had the right to bear a grudge against him for what he got her father into, she still thought of Valant as family, referring to him as "Uncle Valant". On the day the news broke out that he had been killed, Trucy had gone almost as quiet as she had when she found out her father had died, but now that Phoenix thought about it-

Could her being quiet be a sign of her guilty conscience? It was entirely possible, but there was no way Trucy could have killed Valant. It just wasn't possible.

That was what Phoenix kept telling himself, anyway.

"I didn't do it!" Trucy shouted urgently, fighting away the tears that rolled so tragically down her cheeks. "Please... Daddy! Y-you have to believe me! You've gotta defend me!"

"I wish I could..." Phoenix sighed, "but I no longer have my badge. Usually, anyone can defend, just that having a lawyer improves circumstances. But not in my case - not once you lose your badge."

"W-what about Polly?" She stuttered, "Apollo can defend me!"

Phoenix sighed again. "Not likely."

He pulled a poster from his pocket. It had been stapled to a tree not too long ago. A picture of Apollo Justice, a rookie defense lawyer, was printed in rain-stained ink.

Under a big, bold font that read "Missing Person".

"Apollo's gone missing... we didn't get so much as a note to tell us where he might have gone - and all his things are still at home."

"Y-you don't think-?" Trucy gasped.

"That he's been kidnapped? Under most circumstances, that isn't what I would've concluded. But yes, that's exactly what I think. Even all the detectives at the precinct think so. There isn't a soul who knows who doesn't think he was kidnapped."

"But Apollo's-! He's like my brother! You and him... you're the closest thing to family I have now Uncle Valant's gone." She looked down at her gloves, fiddling with them nervously.

"It's okay, Trucy. I'm helping out with the investigating, and we've got detectives scattered across the city looking for him. You just worry about your trial tomorrow, okay?"

"O-okay..."

"Excuse me, Sir..." An officer in the famous blue and black uniform came through the door from Trucy's side of the glass. "Visiting hours for Miss Wright are over. We need her for questioning."

"Of course." Phoenix looked at his watch. They'd been talking, or more like sitting quietly looking at each other for the most part, for almost an hour. "I'll come back tomorrow, okay?"

Trucy nodded, fighting back the sadness she felt. She didn't want Phoenix to leave - he was all she had. Plus, she had to get more information about Apollo - had he really gone missing for good? Was he really kidnapped? Was he going to be alright? Questions, like tornadoes, spun through her head and worst-case scenarios filled her mind in answer to them.

But Phoenix was right - She was going to have to worry about her trial the next day, and worrying about two things at once wasn't going to help, so she decided for the moment, although it pained her to forget about Apollo so suddenly, to figure out what she was going to do for tomorrow. Without a defense attorney, without Apollo - but it wasn't like she could change the circumstances. But then again, Apollo, wherever he was, would want her to focus on her trial, right?

The trial was all she could think about as the police interrogated her. Question after question came at her - where was she on the night of the crime? What was she wearing? When was the last time she saw Valant? And just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore...

What happened to her parents?

Trucy became stiff. "P-Phoenix Wright is my Daddy. H-he's one of my parents! N-nothing happened a-at all..." she stuttered, trying to force her mind away from the inevitable. She didn't like to talk about her real parents.

"Phoenix Wright is your adoptive father. It says here on this record." The officer showed the document to Trucy. It was, taken from her file, a record of her full name, date of birth, her birth parents, and also her adoptive parent - Phoenix Wright. "So, Trucy Enigmar - what happened to Shadi and Thalassa?"

"I-I have the r-right to remain silent to u-unrelated questions!" She stuttered, trying to hold her head high as best as she could. The officer however just smirked.

"But it is completely related. See, Valant and your parents were very close - and it gives you a motive for the murder."

"What motive would I have to kill Uncle Valant?" Trucy gasped, thinking about it hard. Even she had no idea, but she was sure the police officer did. Trucy didn't know a lot about her mother's death - she was too young at the time. She only knew about her Grandpa Magnifi's death because of the trial. But what about her father's death? Valant wasn't linked to that at all! So what was the police officer talking about?

"Well, it was never fully proved, as Magnifi never took it to court... But, either your father or another person killed your mother, Thalassa. I assume you can figure out the other person?"

"Either Daddy or... Uncle Valant?" She stared at the police officer as if he was mental, but he nodded calmly, and then stared back into Trucy's eyes with a cocky smile plastered across his face.

"Precisely. And on the off-chance Valant killed your mother, along with trying to frame you're father at the trial seven years ago... Well, that just gives you all the more of a solid motive, don't you agree?"

This man was full of himself. He had a perfect argument for what could have happened, like a prosecutor. And no matter what, Trucy couldn't think of anything to say that could argue against any of his points. Now that she thought about it...

What if she did kill Valant?