The Psychic Turnabout
Chapter 4: This chapter sucks
After Psych and Wright & Co. left the interrogation room and went back to meet their friends, Shawn gave Edgeworth the code for the bombs. He gave it to an officer of the Bomb Squad so they could disable and secure the explosives while he was busy investigating the murder they were about to leave, though, someone showed up...
-HOLD IT! - A female voice said.
-Not her... - The defense and prosecution whispered at the same time.
Everyone turned (Phoenix and Edgeworth did it reluctantly) to look at the source of the voice: a young woman with blueish hair, clothes with an European style, and carrying a whip on her right hand.
-Miles Edgeworth. Don't you dare to leave without me. You knew I was coming, so you wanted to run away like the foolish chicken you are, didn't you? - She said.
-I wouldn't dream of challenging your authority in such a coward way, Franziska. - Edgeworth answered.
-And you, Mr. Phoenix Wright! What are you doing here? Probably interfering with an official investigation like the foolish fool you've always been. - She said while looking at Phoenix.
-Er... N-Nice to see you too, Ms. von Karma. - He said nervously.
Franziska von Karma. Gifted prosecutor with an almost flawless record... Except when it comes to cases including Phoenix Wright.
-I assumed you were too busy with Interpol and your other cases, so I chose to move on with my own investigation. - Edgeworth told her.
-That's where you're wrong, Miles Edgeworth. It's precisely because of my work with Interpol that I'm part of this case. After all, if a serial killer leaves his comfort zone, it won't take long before this Yin-Yang becomes a multi-state threat, and then he or she will escalate to an international level, so Interpol wants to stop this before it happens. - She said while smiling.
-And why are you here? I'm pretty sure they have more available agents and...
Edgeworth was interrupted mid-sentence as something hit him right in the chest area. More accurately, a whip.
-Are you implying I shouldn't be here, Miles Edgeworth? Or do you think I'm incompetent!? - Franziska shouted at him.
-WOAH! What the hell, you crazy woman!? - Detective Lassiter said. - I don't care if you work for Interpol, CIA or the freaking Salvation Army, but I'm gonna arrest you if you do that again!
-It's ok, detective. I'm already used to this. - Edgeworth said. - And no, Franziska. I'm no implying anything. All I'm saying is that I'm surprised Interpol allowed one of its best elements to leave them when they could have used your colossal abilities for more important cases.
-Appealing to my ego will get you nowhere, Miles Edgeworth. They announced this mission, and I requested to come here myself... You can say I missed this place just a little. - Franziska countered. - What I don't miss, no matter where I am, are foolish fools foolishly shouting and threatening me. Who are these people, Miles Edgeworth?
-These are the Santa Barbara detectives I called to assist us for this case, and the expert on the Yin-Yang killer. Detectives Carlton Lassiter and Juliet O'Hara. - The prosecutor said while gesturing with a hand to each officer.
-I'll do the rest, Edgey. - Shawn interrupted. - Hi. My name is Shawn Spencer, and this is my partner...
-Burton Guster, at your service. But you can call me Gus. - Gus interrupted with his "seductive" voice.
-Really, Gus? You're going after Miss Franzy von Whipemall? - An annoyed Shawn said.
*Oh, no. He didn't!* Phoenix and Edgeworth thought.
-How did you call me, you foolish fool!? - Franziska said with a rage that could intimidate the Incredible Hulk.
As she was raising her whip to deliver a possibly fatal blow to Shawn (who, for some reason, wasn't intimidated at all), Edgeworth got in the way.
-HOLD IT! Franziska, listen carefully. While those of us who know you can easily dismiss your... Rough interactions, hitting our guests would not be polite behavior. Not to mention that your antics could get you in trouble if they do, in fact, report your misconduct.
*CRACK* Her whip resonated after hitting the prosecutor.
-What do you take me for, Miles Edgeworth? A fool? Of course I know better than to be rude to our guests. I just wanted to see the reaction of Mr. Shawn Spencer... I must verify his "talent" by myself.
-Woahwoahwoah! Be kind, rewind, please. How do you know that...
-That you are a psychic detective? - She completed his sentence. - I am no fool, Mr. Shawn Spencer. I did my research on this case long before arriving to the city. Needless to say, I also know about you, your abilities, your partner and his multiple aliases. All of them invented by you, I must add.
-Wow. All of them? That's a long list, Franzy. Prove it.
-MC Clap Yo Handz, Magic head, Die Harder, Ernesto Agapito Garces con ya de Abelar, Hollabackatcha, Black Magic, Ghee Buttersnaps (A/N: my personal favorite), Control Alt Delete, G-Force, and the least original of the bunch: Shawn... Just to name a few.
Plenty of jaws were hanging once von Karma was done listing some of the nicknames Shawn had invented throughout the years.
-Er, Gus... Was your mind blown beyond proportion as well? - Shawn asked.
-A lot, actually. I still can't believe she memorized the whole Ernesto thing.
-Why does everyone know about Ghee Buttersnaps? I used that one inside a military base. It should be classified, right? - Shawn whined.
-It could be because you posted it in our official website AND our Facebook page. - Gus suggested.
-Gus. Mental note: "make our nickname collection a private album".
-Mental notes are supposed to be thought, Shawn. Not openly said so everyone can hear them.
-If you are done with your foolish gibberish, we should head to the crime scene. - Franziska interrupted.
-What's up with you and your fascination fot the word "fool"? I doubt someone raised along with Edgey and his extensive vocabulary would be less knowledgeable about the dictionary, so is that some kind of hobby? Inventing new forms to use "fool", I mean. - Shawn joked.
-How did you know about the connection between Mr. Edgeworth and Miss von Karma, pal? - A surprised Gumshoe asked.
-Psychic, pal. Remember? - Shawn said. In fact, he recognized her from the photo he saw during his videoconference with Edgeworth.
Franziska stopped her walk to the door and turned to glare at Shawn.
-Listen to me, Mr. Shawn Spencer. I'm strongly considering to disregard my education for a fraction of a second and let you taste the power of my whip, so shut your foolish mouth or I'll do it for you.
-Franziska! I told you...
-Oh, it's ok, Edgey. Let her swing that whip at me.
Everyone looked at Shawn as if he was crazy. Gus was the first to talk.
-Ok, Shawn. Look... What is wrong with you? You're the last person I thought would be into that.
-Into that? Pfft. Yeah, right. I consider pain as much of a friend as Lassie believes I'm a skilled investigator.
-Which I do not. - Lassiter said.
-See? Quod... Something.
-Quod erat demonstrandum, Mr. Shawn Spencer. - Franziska corrected. - And what is the point of allowing me to beat you into submission, then?
-The point is that you're not gonna land a single hit on me. Psychic, remember? I can see them coming long before you even think about swinging that whip.
Everyone turned to look at the daughter of the von Karma family.
-I don't have time for such foolish games, Mr. Shawn Spencer. So, if we could just conclude this foolish conversation,..
-Oh, come on! Dis gunna be fun. Look at it this way: if you land a hit, we can move on. If you don't, you get to verify my powers first-hand. A win-win situation for you. - Shawn insisted.
-Shawn, I think this is enough. We have to get to the crime scene ASAP. - Juliet said.
-It's ok, detective O'Hara... Mr. Shawn Spencer does have a valid point. A situation that allows me a victory, no matter the result, is a perfect situation. - Franziska hit the floor with her whip in order to stretch her muscles. - And a von Karma aims to perfection in everything.
-I believe we should give them some space. - Edgeworth said while indicating everyone to step back.
The whole building was quiet once the duel was ready. One-on-one... Shawn and his observation skills vs. Franziska von Karma and her legendary whip.
-Alrighty, then. 3 hits, Franzy. If you land one, we get outta here and you won't hear me talking at all during the whole trip. Deal?
-Sounds perfect, Mr. Shawn Spencer.
-Oh, right! Almost forgot. If I win, you'll stop calling me by full name and just go with Shawn.
-Doesn't matter. A von Karma is perfect in everything... - She smacked the floor again to prove her point. - Including target practice.
-Then how about Shawny?
-Don't push it, you fool.
Shawn's plan was pretty simple: keep an eye on Franziska and her whip hand, analyze the patterns of her muscle movement and calculate where she was aiming. Luckily for him, his dad's training program included self-defense, so this was an ability he was familiar with. While having better reflexes would have been useful, he was expecting that knowing the trajectory of her whip would be enough to dodge. And then he saw...
He saw her hand moving above her left shoulder, indicating a basic swing that was intended to hit him in the chest, just as she had been doing with her brother. He ducked to avoid the first strike, which knocked a pencil container shaped like a pineapple.
Everyone was shocked at this successful evasion, going from those who knew the female prosecutor and those that suffered her wrath, to those who were new around here, including the Santa Barbara guests and new officers at the precinct... Except the owner of the whip herself, who was only slightly impressed at Shawn's reflexes.
-What are you all staring like fools? That was just dumb luck, as they call it.
Shawn got back on his feet and internally gloated at the many faces he was watching, but immediately got back to his unfinished duel. Franziska didn't waste any time and started to move her hand once again, and then he saw...
He saw her raising it above her head, which described a vertical swing. Using his football knowledge, he sidestepped to the left and dodged the second hit, colliding with the floor this time.
*One is luck. Two is just... I can't believe it!* Phoenix and Edgeworth, two previous victims of that whip, shouted in their minds.
-WHAT!? How is this possible? - Franziska shouted... Literally.
-Uff... Last chance, Franzy. Then it's game over.
-For you, that is.
Shawn got back in position for the last hit, and Franziska did so as well. Shawn braced himself for whatever was going to happen, and then he saw... He saw her hand moving the same way it did before the last hit. *Really, Franzy? You think I'm guessing, so I won't expect a repeat?* Shawn thought, but before he could crouch again, he saw... He saw Franziska changing the angle as she was already moving for the hit. Shawn managed to figure out she was aiming for a low hit to his legs, but he didn't have enough time to get out of the way. Without many ideas left, he did the only thing he could think of without much time to think things through: he dropped himself to tye floor, landing on top of the whip and stopping it instantly.
N one could believe what had just happened in front of their eyes. Not only did the psychic detective had won, but he also incapacitated the most feared weapon in the whole precinct and the prosecution's office.
-Wow! Just... Wow! - It wasGumshoe who finally broke the silence.
-He did it! - Maya shouted.
And the croud goes wild! Every officer, inmate and employee in the proximity cheered and applauded at Shawn for doing what seemed impossible... It didn't last too long, though.
-What do you think you're doing, you foolish fools!? Back to your own business! - Franziska shouted at everyone.
And every person at the building did as they were told. Franziska, on the other hand, went straight to the door without saying a word. With the excitement finally fading, everyone related to the case did so as well after Edgeworth gave them instructions to follow his own car to the crime scene... Well. Everyone except for Shawn who was still on the floor.
-You ok, Shawn? - Gus asked his friend.
-Depends... Did I win?
-You're fine. Get up and let's get outta here. - Gus told him while extending a hand to him.
Shawn got up and they walked to the door, but met Edgeworth at the exit.
-She won't openly admit it, Mr. Spencer, but you truly impressed her. - He said and went outside.
Shawn and Gus just stood there, processing what the prosecutor told them.
-Same goes for him, I guess. Maybe he's using Franzy to express what he thinks. - Shawn said.
-They're pretty similar, even if they won't "openly admit it, Mr. Spencer". - Gus said while doing an impression of Edgeworth.
-Must be because they grew up together. - Shawn deduced.
-Who knows? Maybe it's a family trait.
-In times like this, being raised by a police officer doesn't sound so bad... - Shawn said. - It's still bad, though.
-And that's why I don't envy you at all. - Gus joled and walked to his car.
-Wait, what? Oh, come on, Gus! There's plenty of stuff to envy about me. - Shawn said while heading to his friend's car and on their way to a murder scene.
A/N: hey, readers! Yeah... Not much to see about this chapter. I wanted to introduce Franzy to the story and explore her possible response to the Psych team before starting the investigation. I thought mixing this concept with the whole investigation would make a long chapter, so I split things up and this happened.
So... A duel between a psychic and a whip-happy prosecutor, and Shawn won... Barely. If you liked this thing or think I messed up somewhere (especially when it comes to Franziska, since I fear I probably portrayed her in a wrong way), your reviews are highly appreciated.
On a few side notes... As some of you might have noticed, I have a new project that I call "The Dark Phoenix". For those of you that haven't checked that fic yet, I will basically turn AA characters into members of the family, or villains from the gallery. As expected, Phoenix has become something similar to Batman, but with his own codename. If you're interested and want more details, check it out. You won't regret it. By now, some must be thinking "Is he self-advertising?", and this is half-true. Yes, it's advertising, but it's related to this fic for a reason: I have now decided to turn TDP into my main project, so I'll focus on it more than TPT. Oh, don't worry! I'm not dropping this fic or giving it in adoption anytime soon. I'll just update my main project more frequently than this one. As for the reason of switching priorities, here's the thing... I got myself an artist that is willing to draw the transformed characters for free! Yes, people! The Dark Phoenix, Joker and many more characters to come will have official artwork. Get hype!
Another thing: I'm officially requesting betareaders to correct my increasing number of typos and other mistakes. More details at chapter 3 of TDP, but I will basically test the candidates by double-checking projects already out. If you pass, you get early access to my future updates and other projects than can possibly happen. Some info I will require:
-Pen name.
-Age.
-Methods you will use
With that out of the way, have fun while surfing the internets, people! Stay awesomelicious.
Edit: a reviewer brought to my attention that I messed up during Franziska's details about the case. Namely, the fact that I called Yin-Yang multi-state, when Santa Barbara and LA are both part of California. I tweaked it a little, so it should be fixed. I also elaborated on how Shawn knew about Franzy and Edgeworth living together. Not too big of an edit, but still...