January 04, 02:32 PM

Dye-Young Hospital

Hallway

#

"HOW IS HE?! IS HE AWAKE?!"

Mr. Wright threw the door open with enough force to hit the wall, but Apollo didn't even budge.

"Turns out that when someone wakes up from being unconcious, the doctors need to run some tests.", said Athena, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "They threw us out. But he was awake when we left."

He would actually see the build-up tension leaving his boss as Mr. Wright closed his eyes. No one spoke for a minute or two. Then Mr. Wright shook his head and sat down next to Apollo. The relief in his voice was almost overwhelming as he said: "So he's going to be okay..."

"Uh... Mr. Wright?"

Nurse Byrde stood in the door, curtseyed nervously and kept her eyes on the ground. "The doctors say you can come in now. Mr. Edgeworth is still very weak and tired, so please try to stay quiet."

"Thank you, Maggey. Athena, Apollo? Come on."

True to word, Mr. Edgeworth did look rather exhausted when they entered the room. The IV drip was still stuck in his arm and the machines surrounding him were still there, looming over the small bed. But he was sitting up and someone had fetched him a cup of tea.

"Edgeworth..."

Apollo had never seen Mr. Wright smile like this.

"Wright. And I see you brought your entire agency along. What owes me the honor of this visit?"

He got no answer, just a smile as Phoenix sat down at his side. "Remember the last time we were in a hospital together?"

"Hmpf. You may notice that I, unlike you, have the decency to actually act as if I had nearly died."

"Ah, come on. I was unconcious, too. Even longer than you!"

"Being unconcious for a day or two is a perfectly normal response to ingesting a fingertip full of Zitraine. It is not the normal reaction to falling 40 feet..."

"Edgeworth..."

"...Off a burning bridge..."

"Edgeworth..."

"...Into a river well known for killing those who fall into it. So pardon me if I say that no, your reaction was not appropriate at all."

"Is that why you fell unconcious? To react appropriately?"

"Yes."

Apollo stared at them. Yet another 'fairytale' that was actually true. He'd though for sure that Mr. Wright had been exaggerating about that!

"Oh, by the way, I alerted Ms. von Karma", said Phoenix to nobody in particular. Edgeworth perked up at the sound of his sister's name. "Franziska? Why is she here?"

"She was... a little angry to find that her little brother has been poisoned. We should probably hurry and find the culprint before she murders them."

"Your sister is really scary, Mr. Edgeworth", mumbled Athena, but her smile betrayed her words. Edgeworth agreed nonetheless. "True, she is hot-blooded. What about Mr. Gavin? How is his situation?"

Apollo swallowed hard. This was probably his job, huh? With a few words, he explained to Mr. Edgeworth the bad situation that Mr. Gavin was in. Concern showed on the Chief Prosecutor's face.

"I... see. Has somebody thought to check on the hospital itself? There is a chance that the culprit has striked again. They might even be a staff member."

A headshake from Apollo. "No, they checked his blood and there's nothing signalizing he's been posioned again. The most likely scenario is that his lungs were already damaged before he ever took the Zitraine."

"Hm. Any other clues as to who the culprint might have been?"

Athena took it upon herself to, yet again, explain everything to both Mr. Wright and Mr. Edgeworth. Apollo noted that she started playing with her ear ring towards the end, but he didn't have any time to percive it now.

"...and now it all depends on whether or not Ms. von Karma figured out where that picture was taken."

Edgeworth nodded. "My sister is an intelligent woman. If I know her well enough and I belive I do, she will bring any new information she might have gotten with her when she comes to visit."

"Then I belive we must wait. I doubt that she will take long."

CRACK!

"Miles Edgeworth! How dare you bring yourself into this situation?!" And there she was, Franziska von Karma who'd somehow managed to keep her whip. Of course, no one had ever managed to take her whip away. The reason was because, if someone was trying to take it away from her, that meant it had not yet been taken and that, of course, meant she still had it. Apollo pitied the poor fool who had tried to lay hands on it. It had probably been painful.

"Franzika. It has been a while."

"Stop being so calm!" CRACK! "And where did you get that cup of tea?! Was that really your first choice of action? To order some tea?!" CRACK!

"Actually, Ms. Byrde brought it to me without having been asked. She broke the saucer, unlucky as she is, but it was a kind gesture of here."

Franziska clenched her fists, searching for something to say. She wasn't angry, Apollo realized. She was worried and trying to hide it.

Maybe someone should try telling her that it wasn't working. Still, she gave it one last try.

"And the person who alerted me was Phoenix Wright! Did you not even care enough to alert me yourself?!"

"My apologies. I didn't know you were here. I was unconcious, if you recall."

For a few moments she gesticulated wildly, trying to make up for her lack of an answer. Then she gave up.

"At least you did wake up. Now, how much do you know about the case at hand?"

"Enough to know that you may have some new information at hand."

"Oh! Yes, Ms. von Karma, did you get the picture analyzed?"

Athena looked giddy, but Franziska just frowned. "Unfortunally, our first attempts were fruitless. Sebastian D... gnhg." Her sentence broke off with a weird noise, as if she was trying to swallow her tongue and bite it at the same time. Mr. Wright tilted his head in confusion. "Huh?"

"N... nothing. Nothing. As I was saying, Sebastian is currently trying to get a deeper anaylsis, but that will take quite some time."

Apollo coughed. "Uh... How much is 'quite some time'?"

"Up to two weeks."

"WHAT?!" He hadn't planned to yell, but his chords of steel got the better of him. "We can't wait that long! What if the culprint tries a second time and succeeds?!"

Ignoring Apollo's panic, Phoenix turned to her. "Is there really no information at all?"

And she smiled.

"I never said that."

"Huh? But you just..."

"True, our analysis got us no results. But it appears that Klavier Gavin has a lucky star, because just as me and... Sebastian were about to leave, Simon Blackquill came to cross our way and asked what we were doing. Sebastian showed him the picture and apparently, he recognized it."

"He... he did?!"

"WAY TO GO, SIMON!", cheered Athena, but then she noticed that Mr. Edgeworth was frowning. "What's wrong, Mr. Edgeworth?"

"I see you understand." Now Ms. von Karma was frowning, too. "He may recognize the building, but a prosecutor saying that he is 'almost certain' he has seen that place before is hardly enough for a search warrant."

"Oh..."

Silence. Phoenix, who'd been sitting next to Edgeworth the entire time, got up again only to stare at his feet. "Can't we... I dunno, find a way around that?"

"No, I fear not. Seb... Sebast..." Why does she have so much trouble with the name Sebastian? "Sebastian has looked into it and apparently, the building stands empty, but still has an owner. Normally, that would be good, as we could attempt to get the owner's permission. However, no one actually knows who the owner is. We must either wait for the analysis to be done or find the owner. Both will take up some time."

And there was no time. No one said that, but they all knew it. There was no time.

"Unless..."

Oh?

Von Karma was smiling yet again, a smug grin of superiority. "...We call in some... backup?"

"I'm afraid that I don't quite understand."

"Now, now, Miles Edgeworth. Is there really no one you can think off? Someone to call when you need... illegal things performed in the name of truth?"

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT THAT!" A yell, followed by a painful whimper. Edgeworth had, in his sudden burst of rage, lunged forward and was now clutching the place where the IV line pierced his skin. A small drop of blood ran out from between his fingers.

"You... no! That is too dangerous. And besides..."

He took a deep, shaky breath. "...I do not know where she is anyway. I can't exactly snap my fingers and conjure her up, now can I?"

Ba-dum.

Apollo's bracelet tightened.

"Mr. Edgeworth", he said, calmly rubbing his wrist, "I have no idea what you are talking about. But I do know that you are lying."

"What?"

Percive...

"Please, Mr. Edgeworth, repeat your statement."

"Fine, if I must. That is too dangerous and besides, I do not know where she is anyway. I can't exactly snap my fingers and..." conjure her up, now can I? That is to dangerous and besides, I d-o n-o-t k-n-o-w w-h-e-r-e...

His voice seemed to get slower as he spoke and every action, every movement of his got bigger, stronger, filled the world. His chest rising and falling, breathing evenly. The motion of his mouth. His fingers, motionless against the duvet. The universe disappeared, made a step back and took second place to Mr. Edgeworth, his voice and his movements. Every single twitch...

...s-h-e i-s a-n-y-w-a-y. I c-a-n'-t e-x-a-c-t-l-y s-n-a-p m-y f-i-n-g-e-r-s a-n-d...

...a smile, but that wasn't it. It had to be there. Someone said something, somewhere, but what did it matter? The hospital could have burned down and he wouldn't have noticed it, not unless Mr. Edgeworth stopped talking...

...c-o-n-j-u-r-e h-e-r u-p, n-o-w c-a-n I?

No find yet. But it was there, he knew that with every fiber of his being. Now he himself said something. Maybe a plea to Mr. Edgeworth to please repeat the statement, again? Statement? He wasn't in court. Was he? Where was he?

T-h-a-t i-s t-o d-a-n-g-e-r-o-u-s a-n-d b-e-s-i-d-e-s, I d-o n-o-t k-n-o-w w-h-e-r-e s-h-e i-s...

Hands? No changes. His breathing? Still calm and even. His mouth? Just talking. His eyes...

Gotcha!

"Mr. Edgeworth, why do you glance over to the curtain when you say that?"

"I... I don't!"

"Ah, Edgeworth... I'm afraid that hiding things from my dear Apollo is rather difficult. It's like my Psychelocks... or Psycholocks, as you like to call them."

"Phoenix Wright, what is the meaning of this?!" Franziska stomped her foot, then almost fell over due to her high heels. Mr. Wright ignored it.

"Now, Edgeworth. I admit that I, just like Apollo, don't actually know who you are talking about..:"

"Make that three of us, yeah?"

"Thank you, Athena, now what was I... ah, yes. We don't know what you are talking about, but who- or whatever it is, it has something to do with this curtain, has it?"

"Wright, do not even attempt to open that curtain! You will not dare..."

"Okay, I'll do it, then!"

Athena grinned and before Mr. Edgeworth could say another word, she was already headed for the window, grabbed the long, green curtain and pulled.

"EVEN IN THE DEPTHS OF NIGHT, WHEN NO OTHER BIRD DARES TO TAKE FLIGHT, ONE ALONE SOARS TO SHINE THE LIGHT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS ON THE WORLD'S BLIGHT! AND THAT ONE IS ME! FOR I AM THE GREAT THIEF YATAGARASU!"