Authors Note:
Inspired by the idea of "what if the last case of the last game has you trying to figure out who murdered Phoenix?". It got a bit long but I'm glad I got the idea down!
Also, no, I don't know who did it. I have a VERY vague idea that might be explored if enough people ask for a sequel.
Well, I hope you enjoy!
Update 3/16/2015
Went through and edited/ rewrote some bits to make it more sequel friendly. Yep, you read right! I'm writing a sequel! Expect the first chapter of Turnabout Closure soon!
She felt it. It hit her hard, like a punch square in the gut. As the Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique, she had a deep connection to the realm of spirits.
And for the first time, she felt the spirit of a close friend drift through the air and leave this plane of existence.
Maya Fey opened her eyes in a panic, effectively breaking her concentration from her meditation. Without saying a word, she turned her head and looked to the young woman sitting by her side; her cousin but also her closest consort and second in command in the village.
The look in her eyes confirmed that Maya hadn't been imagining it. She stifled a scream, and ran from the room as fast as she could. Tears were already flowing down her face by the time she reached the front door.
She couldn't believe it. She had to make the call. He would pick up, he had to. He always answered the phone when she called.
It rang, and rang and rang and rang. No answer. She dialed again. And again and again. No one picked up.
She shakily placed the phone down before lowering herself to the floor. Knees to her chin, Maya began to weep silently, having had her worst fear confirmed.
Phoenix was gone.
Trucy was the one to find the body.
Now a sophomore in college studying performing arts, Trucy Wright would sometimes come visit her father on the weekends as a surprise. Despite being a moderately famous lawyer, her father didn't get clients (or accept the ones that came to him) all that often, so he would more than likely be in his office cleaning or sorting paperwork. Or sleeping on the couch, with the TV still on.
Now he was slumped over his desk, a knife through his neck.
She was in shock until she fully processed what was in front of her. When her head finally cleared, she sprinted over to her father.
"Dad?" She shook his shoulders vigorously. "Dad?! DADDY!" Tears were streaming down her face as she shook the lifeless body of her father harder and harder, screaming his name.
She slowly stopped as she realized in a shocked state that he was gone. She had lost another dad.
She took a horrified, disgusted step back as she vomited in her mouth a little. Finally gaining her composure and resolve she grabbed her cellphone from her pocket and dialed the number for the police as quickly as she could possibly move her shaking fingers.
The agency was surrounded by blue and red flashing lights within a matter of minutes. Everything after the phone call was a blur to Trucy. She remembered the sirens approaching the complex, the pounding of feet as cops flooded the building, the gentle but yet somehow forceful hand on her arm as she was brought away from the scene of the crime. But she couldn't distinguish faces or voices or forms. The passage of time seemed to elude her; it could have been hours or it could have been minutes since she made her gruesome discovery. The only thing on her mind was the blank look in Phoenix's eyes, the red tipped knife, the pool of blood dripping from the desk to the floor…
"Hey pal, you alright?" The sound of a familiar and friendly voice snapped Trucy out her trance. "Well I mean, as alright as you could be… Ack you'd think I'd be better at this by now, huh, pal?"
Trucy tried to smile, but she just couldn't. "Thank you for asking Gumshoe… But no, I don't think I am."
Detective Dick Gumshoe sighed and ran his hand through his short black hair. He was clearly distressed, possibly as much as Trucy was but he was doing his absolute best to not show it. This little girl needed his protection and comfort and he was going to supply it.
He sat down on the sidewalk's curve as three more police officers rushed past the two of them. "Have a seat, Truce. You must be tired." He patted the ground next to him, inviting her to take a load off. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this pal, I truly am." He looked at her as she silently sat down, inklings of sadness lining his face. He crossed his hands and awkwardly looked down. He was never the best with kids, even if she wasn't really a kid anymore. "I-I'm here if you need me, if that helps at all."
She turned her head and genuinely smiled. "Thank you Gumshoe, I appreciate it."
"S'not a problem, pal." He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled lightly. "I'm here to help."
Suddenly, the front door of the agency burst open and a gurney draped in a white cloth quickly wheeled out, followed by some EMT's. The distinct shape of a man was visible within its folds. Trucy felt Gumshoe's grip on her shoulder tighten as she and him both looked away as the body was rolled into an ambulance.
They turned their heads back towards the building when the heard the door open again. This time, Chief Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth stepped out, a somber look on his face. He and Phoenix had been friends- and rivals- for many, many years. The sudden death of someone so close to him was surely taking an emotional toll on him, but he was trying his hardest to remain as stoic as ever. The puffy red eyes and stains under his glasses betrayed this fact.
He sat down on the opposite side of Trucy, clearly emotionally exhausted. "Trucy," he said after a brief spell of silence, "words cannot even begin to describe how sorry I am. I know how it feels to lose a father so suddenly and without warning. It's a horrible feeling." He took a brief pause, as if to consider what to say next. "I understand that you have lost your birth father too but -please tell me if this is out of line- Phoenix was much more of a father than he was. At least that's how it seemed to me." Trucy looked down and nodded in agreement.
"I… I didn't even really know my real dad." She spoke quietly and slowly, trying to avoid any voice cracks that may slip out. "He was there for me my first eight years but, that was about it. I'm thankful for him of course. Without him I wouldn't have ever become a magician! And I truly appreciate that, I really do.
"But then Daddy came along. He took me in. I was alone and scared and he should have hated me. I'm the one who gave him that piece of false evidence after all." She looked up and smiled, fondly recounting the memory. "But he didn't. All he saw was a little girl in need and he took me in; gave me a place to live, his last name and a dad. It was like a magic trick. Him being there made me feel so safe. So content." Her smile a bit, but hung on by the edge of its skin. "Even though I knew I wasn't really his, I truly felt that Daddy was my real father, ya know?" She stopped suddenly and sighed heavily. Tears threatened her again.
The three of them were silent for what seemed like an eternity. Officers would enter and exit the law firm periodically and many of them would glance at Trucy with sympathy. Some even stopped to voice their condolences, promising to "find whoever did this as soon as we possibly can."
"Hey Edgeworth," Gumshoe glanced behind Trucy to look at the prosecutor, "Do we, uh, have any leads or ideas? Anything?" He noticed Trucy got visually tense.
Edgeworth looked shocked, as if he had completely forgotten something very important. He straightened his back before closing his eyes in concentration. "Sadly, no, not currently." He stood up and grabbed some paperwork that he had brought out with him and had placed on the roof of a police car and started to read over it. "We couldn't lift any prints from the murder weapon. The scene was an utter mess. It doesn't seem logical that the culprit would wipe it down, so we can safely assume they were wearing gloves. Also there were no signs of forced entry, making it seem like that whoever did this to Phoenix was let in by the man himself." He turned to look at Trucy. "Trucy, was the door locked when you got here?"
"I...don't think so. No, it wasn't actually." Trucy thought hard for a second before coming to her conclusion. "Daddy would usually keep the door to the office unlocked for potential clients."
Closing his eyes in thought, Edgeworth frowned. "That certainly broadens the potential suspect list."
"Well, do you know if Daddy had any clients recently?" The idea of someone that had gone out of their way to hire Phoenix just to kill him gave Trucy the shivers, but she couldn't deny it was a valid option as to what happened.
Edgeworth shook his head. "No, it didn't look like it. We checked his files and the last client that had hired him was in court two months ago. He hasn't had one since."
"Oh." Both Trucy and Gumshoe muttered the word at the same time.
"However, there is one thing we couldn't figure out, at least at this preliminary stage." He adjusted his glasses as he looked down over the notes again. "He was holding a pen in such a way to suggest that he was writing on something. However, there was nothing on his desk nor on the floor." He placed the notes down. "Suggesting that whoever killed him probably took whatever it was. It's all very strange, and not unlike a case I was involved with a few years back."
Gumshoe groaned and placed his head in his hands. "I bet if he were still here, ol' Phoenix would have figured this out in no time. He had a unique way of thinking that only a few other people have, pal. What with turning cases upside down and what-not." He chuckled sadly. "He certainly was something. I've been working in criminal affairs for how long now and I've never seen a defense attorney quite like Phoenix, pal."
An officer approached them and motioned towards the detective. "Well looks like I'm needed in there for now." Gumshoe stood up and patted Trucy lightly on the head. "Again, I'm so sorry Truce. I'll do my damned best to figure out who the hell did this, pal. That's a promise." He flashed a confident and toothy grin before turning and entering the office.
Trucy sighed again. When she spoke, a heavy sense of longing and regret lined her voice.
"I wish I could do something, ya know? I could have been there. I could have saved him. I could have-" Her words caught in her throat as tears threatened to flow once more "Who could do this? How could anyone kill Daddy?"
Despite obviously being a rhetorical question, she was surprised when Edgeworth provided her with an answer. "Perhaps a relative of someone he sent to jail. Or maybe even a convict themselves." He spoke absently, as if he was merely thinking aloud about something trivial. "Your father, and his coworkers did send quite a number of people to jail over the years. It wouldn't be too farfetched to think someone wanted to take out some revenge against him."
His coworkers? Trucy gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth. "Oh my god, Athena and Apollo…" She had forgotten all about them, being swept up in all the chaos and confusion. "Who's going to tell them…?"
"It's already been taken care of." Edgeworth smiled somewhat smugly. "Ms. Cykes has been contacted and is taking the first flight over from Europe that is available. She should be here tomorrow at the latest. As for Mr. Justice, he is giving a lecture over at the Themis Law Academy. Faculty members will inform him as soon as his speech is done." He checked his watch quickly. "Which, if my watch isn't off, should be just about now."
As if on cue, Trucy's cell phone rang. She flipped over and brought it up to her ear. "Hello-?"
"TRUCY!" Apollo's voice was so loud she had move the phone away from her head out of fear of damaging her eardrums. Those "Chords of Steel" exercises sure do work, even if this isn't the proper time to use them. "Trucy, oh my god, please it isn't true. Please tell me this is some sick, twisted joke."
Trucy stayed silent. "Oh my god." His voice got hard and serious. She could almost see the despair in his eyes. "I'll be there as quickly as I can."
"Just don't speed-" She started, but he had already hung up. She sighed and flipped her phone close again. The last thing she needs is for her brother to end up in jail for a stupid speeding ticket.
She turned to Edgeworth. "That was Apollo, in case you couldn't hear him shouting." He laughed a bit. "He said he'd be here as soon as he could be."
But she noticed Edgeworth wasn't paying attention to her. He was looking over his left shoulder. Trucy followed his gaze to a crowd of police officers. There seemed to be some sort of commotion. They both exchanged a glance and silently agreed to go investigate.
They heard some loud, stern, yet gentle sounding voices resonate from the crowd as they approached. "I'm sorry, ma'am but this is the scene of a murder and we can't allow the general public to intervene. So I'm gonna tell you one more time, you must leave or you will be placed under arrest for interference during a crime scene investigation."
"No, you don't understand! I'm one of Nick's best friends!" Neither of them could see who was talking, but they recognized the voice immediately. "I was his assistant for years and helped him investigate crime scenes. I can help if you'd just let me through!"
Edgeworth motioned for Trucy to stay put and pushed his way through the crowd of officers. "I can take it from here." He turned away from the officers he addressed and towards the woman in purple standing in front of him. "Now Ms. Fey, if you could follow me." He motioned with his hands in a polite bow.
Maya smiled sadly but genuinely and followed Edgeworth through the crowd of people. She stopped and turned to stick her tongue out at the officer who had denied her entrance before setting off. Even as Master of Kurain Village, she was still same old Maya.
The moment she laid eyes on Trucy she ran out in front of Edgeworth and nearly tackled her to the ground in a ferocious hug. "Ohhhh Trucy." She buried her head into the young girl's shoulder. "I'm sure you've heard this a thousand times today already but I'm so sorry."
Trucy returned the hug in earnest, squeezing her as hard as she could. "Thank you, Mommy." Calling Maya "mommy" came naturally to Trucy. She was the closest thing she ever got to having a mother. Although neither her nor Phoenix wore wedding bands, Trucy formed such a deep connection to the spirit medium that by the fifth time they met, she had taken up the habit of simply calling her "mommy". Neither Phoenix nor Maya tried to stop her.
Trucy loosened her grip and pulled away from the embrace. She looked into Maya's eyes and saw the now familiar sight of despair. She could tell Maya had tried to clear the tear stains by splashing some cold water on her face, but it didn't work. Through her smile, Trucy could see the pain and stress that the day's events had brought on.
"Maya..how did you know?" Edgeworth dropped the formality he addressed her with previously. Having known each other for years, he only referred to her as 'Ms. Fey' in the presence of authority as to show respect for such an important figure. "As far as I am aware, no one contacted you. And even if they did, you arrived awfully fast for living upwards to two hours away."
The spirit medium gave him a look that was a mixture between deadpan and "are you kidding me right now?". She made an exasperated motion towards the robes and the Magatama she was wearing, not dropping eye contact with Edgeworth. "Uh hello? Master spirit medium? Ring a bell to anyone?" He looked less than amused.
"Look, I felt his spirit okay?" Edgeworth and Trucy stared at her blankly. Maya rolled her eyes, clearly not wanting to recount the experience. Her voice was strained when she spoke again. "I..I was meditating. And it felt like someone had punched me right in the stomach and…. I knew right away it was Nick. It's energy was identical to his. I felt his spirit leave this realm. And Pearly did too." She clenched her fist tightly. "That was about four hours ago. It took some time to convince the village elders to let me leave. Then there was train fare, calling a taxi, you know the drill."
"I'm sorry you had to find out that way, Maya." Edgeworth didn't fully believe in spirit mediums or channeling or anything of the sort, but his time using Phoenix's Magatama somewhat convinced him that there are things in this world that cannot be explained away by science. He genuinely felt sorry for her. "How did Pearl take it?"
"Surprisingly well, honestly. I could tell she was upset, but she didn't cry or anything like that. She acted brave and strong. Well stronger than me at the very least. I'm proud of her." Maya smiled warmly. "She's back at the village. I put her in charge until I get back."
Edgeworth looked over his shoulder towards the street. People were driving up and down the road, as if everything was normal. Some slowed down to gaze at was going on, but other than that no one paid the cop cars any mind. Someone walked their dog on the sidewalk on the opposite end of the road. People were just carrying on their day as if nothing happened. As if no one was lost today. As if no one was grieving.
He growled quietly and turned his head away in disgust, hoping neither of the girls would notice. They did.
"Edgeworth? You okay?" Maya inquired taking a small step forward.
He quickly tried to regain his composure by fiddling with his glasses. To Trucy, it looked like something an anime character would do. "Ahh… nothing. I'm fine." He straightened out his jacket. "It may not seem like it, but I'm grieving with you two as well." He didn't know how to explain it beyond that.
The younger of the two girls stepped forward, seemingly to ask a question but a loud screeching noise coming from down the street interrupted her. They all whipped their heads towards the direction of the sound to see a car flying down the road. Maya and Edgeworth seemed panicked, but Trucy merely sighed. "Well, Apollo's here." The two of them stared wide eyed at her as if to ask "that's your brother driving that thing and you're not panicking!?".
Apollo very hastily and sloppily parallel parked between two police cars- thankfully without totalling any vehicle involved- and opened the door so fast it seemed like it would fly off its hinges. He stumbled out of the drivers seat and quickly looked around until he laid eyes on the trio standing together. He dashed forward, nearly tripping on the curb. The officers stepped aside to make room as he ran, either because they recognized him or because they saw the glint of his attorney's badge.
"TRUCY!" He nearly screamed her name as he almost crashed into her. Thankfully, Maya was quick enough on her feet to grab a hold of his shirt and pull him back before he had a head on collision with the poor magician. He paused a moment to catch his breath.
His sister glared at him as he bent over panting for air. "Polly, what have I told you about speeding. I mean come on, there are police cars everywhere. You very easily could have gotten in trouble." She leaned over and gave him a tight hug. "And honestly, that is the last thing I need today."
Apollo returned the hug and suddenly burst into tears. He tightened his grip on her and buried her face under his chin. She felt teardrops pitter patter on top of her head.
"Oh my god Trucy... oh my god." His voice was so shaky, it was almost impossible to understand what he was saying. Trucy realized with a start that she hadn't seen him cry since Clay died.
Maya stepped forward and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Just let it all out Apollo."
He broke Trucy's embrace and wiped tears from his eyes, only to have them be replaced immediately. Snot began running from his nose and Edgeworth offered to go find tissues for him. Apollo nodded in agreement and the prosecutor turned and walked to the building.
Apollo suddenly sat down on the small patch of glass they were standing on, holding his head in his hands. He spoke between gasps for breath as he tried to calm himself down. "I can't… I can't believe it. It didn't seem real until I got here; until I saw Trucy." He sniffled and motioned towards the cop cars behind him. "It's surreal that those things are here because Phoenix was...was..." He choked on his words as he couldn't bring himself to say the word "murdered".
He looked up at Maya and Trucy, a look of desperation in his eyes. "Please tell me this is a dream or a nightmare or something. Anything to affirm that this isn't really happening."
Without missing a beat, Maya held up a fist. "I can punch if you you want. That'll wake you up!" She laughed at herself and smiled widely.
Trying to smile, Apollo wiped more tears away from his eyes. "Ahh a pinch would be fine, please." The next instant, Maya leaned over and did just that. "OWCH. Dammit Maya, I didn't really mean it. And even if I did you didn't have to pinch so hard. Jeez." He rubbed the sore spot on his arm tenderly, his lips forming a slight pout. He sniffled as he wiped away more tears.
"Well at least you know you're not dreaming!" Trucy giggled softly, giving her brother a wink.
The hair spikes adorned on his forehead seemed to droop slightly as his pout turned into a full on frown. "I was hoping I would wake up, Trucy." Trucy suddenly felt guilty and looked away. "Hey it's okay, Truce. You were just trying to lighten the mood." He smiled brightly at her, trying to cheer both her and himself up. At the very least, he had stopped crying for the most part.
He turned his attention to Maya. "How did you find out? About what happened I mean."
Sadness resonated in her eyes as she replied. "Long story short I felt Nick's spirit leave his body the moment he died." She frowned slightly, looking downward. "Being a spirit medium has it's perks, but it's downfalls almost make those perks not worth it. Ya know?"
Apollo gripped his bracelet, remembering the time when he was almost convinced Athena had murdered his best friend. Despite the memory, he couldn't help but grin sadly. "Yeah. I know exactly what you mean, Maya."
Edgeworth returned with a little baggie of tissues. "Glad to see you've regained your composure, Mr. Justice." He smiled at him as Apollo took the tissues and began to blow his nose.
Apollo stood up and placed the soiled tissues into his pocket. His hair spikes had perked back up, Trucy observed. He was definitely feeling better and that made her smile.
He turned to Edgeworth, straightening out his jacket. "So care to share everything you know? I assume you've already been assigned lead prosecutor."
"An astute observation, Mr. Justice." He seemed genuinely impressed. "Yes, despite having no one in custody I was proactively assigned the lead prosecutor." He paused for a brief moment. "Well, more like volunteered."
Maya tilted her head in slight confusion. "I thought Chief Prosecutors didn't actually, you know, prosecute though."
His face turned a very light shade of red and huffed out his reply. "I suppose you're right. It was...well, difficult to convince the court that I should be allowed to bend the rules and prosecute, not to mention convince them that I would be suitable for the case. They were worried that my personal relationship with the vic-" He stopped himself, realizing he was about to dehumanize Phoenix to that of just a nameless victim. "Ahem, they were worried that my personal relationship with Phoenix would make me form a bias during the actual trial. I had to threaten resignation if they did not comply." He chuckled lightly at his last thought, clearly amused with himself.
Apollo pressed his index finger against his forehead, clearly trying to process something. "Well isn't that a valid concern though, Mr. Edgeworth? You and Phoenix were close friends after all. It is possible that if you believe whoever you're defending is guilty that you could purposefully throw the case."
"You underestimate me." Edgeworth wagged his finger and chuckled again. "Perhaps I would have done that many, many years ago, but I'm not that kind of prosecutor anymore. I aim to find the truth, and only the truth. Phoenix was actually the one that made me realize that my practices were wrong.
"I used to do anything for a victory. It used to be my only purpose for prosecuting, honestly. In hindsight, I blame von Karma for that bad personality trait." He scoffed in disgust as Maya nodded in agreement. They had known each other way back then, after all.
Edgeworth continued his monologue. "But then I reunited with Phoenix after a great number of years of not seeing him. We fought in court, and I acted bitter towards him. But then he came to me in my time of need, after I was accused of murder. And despite there being little hope to prove me innocent, Phoenix never lost faith. He always believes-believed- in his clients, no matter what. He fought for their freedom. He fought for their freedom. He fought for the truth. Which is the mentality that I adopted from him. It's the reason I go to court now."
"Meaning…" Trucy spoke in a sad, hushed voice, "even if all the evidence points towards the person on the stand being not-guilty, you'd send an innocent person to jail? Because you would truly believe they were guilty?"
"It's more like I will do anything possible to get the truth." He spoke slowly and chose his words very carefully. "Unlike your father, the people on the stand aren't my clients. It's more as if, I won't back down until I know for certain that they are innocent or guilty. I will fight for the truth." He smiled gently at her. "It's the mentality your father had. Did he ever tell you he actually purposefully got someone a guilty verdict?"
Trucy gasped. "What? No, he never told me that!"
Maya stepped in to explain, obviously interrupting Edgeworth. "Oh man yeah I remember that! I had been kidnapped by an assassin and would only be let go if the person who hired him got a 'not guilty' verdict. But through some tricks, ol' Nick managed to get the guilty verdict AND rescue me! It was terrifying, but I knew deep within my heart he would save me."
Edgeworth nodded. "Exactly. Your father knew that he had been lied to and that his client was guilty, so he did the right thing and allowed a guilty verdict to be passed down. It was the only guilty verdict he ever got. That mentality of purely trying to find the truth is the mentality I'm going to use during this case to make sure that whoever did this is locked up forever." His voice suddenly got angry. "I swear to god I will find whoever did this Trucy, you can count on me."
"Trucy," Apollo suddenly spoke up, "your father was truly an amazing man. You and Maya probably know that more than anyone. You've got to trust Edgeworth to find out who did this. He learned from the best there is, uh, was." Trucy nodded slowly, a smile creeping onto her face.
Apollo turned back to Edgeworth. "So, as you were saying- can you tell us what you know?"
"Ah yes, I got sidetracked. I apologize." He grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. Seeing him do that pained Maya- it was a mannerism Phoenix would do all the time in court when he was nervous. At least he'll live on somehow.
So Edgeworth relayed what he had told to Trucy to the two newcomers. The description the bloody crime scene didn't seem to deter either of them. Trucy couldn't help but find it amusing- they were unphased by murder by now. Well, most murders.
"The apparent cause of death seems to be that he drowned in his own blood. Meaning, if that turns out to be the case after the autopsy is conducted, he…" his voice trailed off. He sighed and looked at them sadly. "It means he suffered." As Edgeworth finished the report, Apollo and Maya cringed and Trucy felt like she needed to vomit.
"You…you didn't tell me that before." Anger was clear in her shaky voice. Tears welled up in her eyes again as she glared at Edgeworth. She felt betrayed. "You didn't tell me that he suffered!"
"Trucy-" Panic lined Edgeworth's voice. "I didn't mean to tell you."
"Why wouldn't you tell me something like that?!" Maya placed her hands on Trucy's shoulders in an attempt to calm her down.
"I didn't want to hurt you any further-"
"Liar!" Her voice broke as she began to cry. "You didn't think it was important. You didn't care! You don't care…" Her body shuddered as she clenched her fist in anger. "You don't care about him at all!"
Apollo stepped in front of her, blocking her view of Edgeworth. "Trucy please calm down! He's not lying." He held his wrist in front of her, showing his bracelet. "I swear to you, he's not lying. Now please..." He frowned and looked at her right in the eyes. "This isn't you. Phoenix wouldn't want you to act like this."
Trucy's eyes widened in horror. The tension left her body and Maya loosened her grip, but didn't quite take her hands off of her. "Oh my god." She looked back at Edgeworth as Apollo stepped aside. "I…I'm so sorry Uncle Edgeworth. I don't know what came over me."
He stepped forward calmly. "It's okay, we're all under a lot of stress at the moment. Especially you." He smiled softly. "I take no offense."
She looked down and pouted ever so slightly. "I still feel bad though. Emotional outburst aren't really my thing, ya know?"
"Hey it's okay!" Maya spoke now. "Everyone gets emotional, and you have every reason to."
Trucy suddenly fell silent. "Hey you alright? We told you, there's no need to be upset." Maya tried to reassure her.
"Do you…" Trucy spoke quietly, as she turned to face Maya. "Mommy, do you think you could channel Daddy? Just so I can talk to him one last time?"
Maya's expression was all the answer Trucy needed. "I'm so sorry sweetie. I tried to contact him earlier. Even Pearly couldn't channel him. He must be too newly gone to be channeled. Or he's just busy chatting up a storm with Mia!" She smiled when Trucy actually laughed.
"I'm sorry to ruin the moment, but I have to wonder- what do we do now?" Apollo suddenly chimed in.
"What do you mean?" Maya inquired, tilting her head to the side slightly.
"I mean, well. Without Phoenix… what's gonna happen to Wright Anything Agency? What's gonna happen to Trucy, Athena and I? We don't have a boss anymore. Trucy doesn't have a…" His voice trailed off as silence fell among the four of them.
Maya was the one to break the silence. "Well I know what we do for now- we all put our heads together to figure out who did this. WE'RE the Wright Anything Agency right now." Her eyes had fiery determination within them. "For the sake of preserving Nick's memory, we have to keep his passion for justice alive. Right Edgeworth?"
Edgeworth stared at her for second and nodded in agreement. "I agree. I can grant you three- and Ms. Cykes when she gets here- special permission to help me investigate."
Maya nodded enthusiastically and stuck her hand out in front of her. "Come on guys. We're the new Wright Anything Agency. We're gonna figure out who did this to our friend, our rival, our mentor, our father." She looked at the three of them individually as she spoke. "Now put your hand in, let's give one more 'objection!'. For Nick's sake."
Trucy nodded and stuck her hand on top of Maya's. Apollo followed suite. They all looked at Edgeworth, and even though he seemed reluctant, he stuck his hand out too. They could tell he was excited and determined though.
"Okay guys, on the count of three. Make this count. We wanna make sure Nick can hear this from wherever he is after all." Even Maya's voice seemed to be smiling. It was infectious and moments later, the rest of them were grinning as well.
"Ready?" They all nodded in agreement.
"One… two…three!"
They raised their hands to the sky and each of those hands had an extended pointer finger. Their shouts resounded off each other, giving each other energy and hope. They would solve this together.
"OBJECTION!"