-Chapter 1-

December 17, 1:16 PM

Wright Anything Agency

"So… you're absolutely certain he was wearing that man's mask?"

The ex-defense attorney and sub-par piano player known as Phoenix Wright stood at the main desk in his office as he clutched a cordless phone to his ears. Clad in a casual outfit consisting of a dark grey sweatshirt, black sweatpants, and a light blue wool cap, anyone familiar with the old Phoenix Wright would be taken aback by his appearance. In truth, the former defense attorney had fallen quite far from his days of glory seven years ago, but his fall was not a direct result of his own actions. The darkness of a certain twisted defense attorney had haunted Phoenix and all other parties involved for those seven years, and it had been a little over two months ago that the full truth behind that seven year curse had been brought to light. With his name cleared, Wright had considered regaining the badge that had been stripped from him, but as it stood now he seemed to be intent on going without it.

Not that that would stop him from keeping his nose out of the legal world. Even in those long 7 years he never had, and he doubted he ever will.

"Yes," the voice answered on the other end of the phone. There was absolutely no doubt about that voice. Phoenix would recognize it anywhere as his friend and old rival in court, Miles Edgeworth, "Wright, you and I both participated in that trial. I think it would be hard to mistake that mask when you see it, even after seven years."

Wright nodded, even though there was no way Edgeworth could actually see the gesture, "Well, there's no arguing with you there, but… No, I don't think you're wrong about this. The only question is, what does that mean?"

"…. I believe it will be up to your protege to figure that one out, Wright. After all, I've decided to put that man on the case after all."

The corner of Wright's mouth curved upwards as a small smirk crossed over his face.

"I think I'll keep a close watch on this case after all," Wright replied, "Alright. I'll let Apollo know he's got a client."

"Very well. Well, I'd love to chat about this longer, but I do have my own trial to prepare for. Maybe I'll see you at the courthouse tomorrow."

Without so much as a proper farewell, Edgeworth hung up and left Wright listening to the monotone hum of the dial tone. Wright gave a smirk and placed the phone back on the receiver before looking out across the cluttered office.

Apollo might appreciate another case after weeks of making him clean the office bathroom… To be honest, it's been rather slow for us these days… at least when it comes to clients.

Just as Wright was thinking about the red-clad defense attorney, Apollo walked into the agency and panted with a defeated look on his face.

Yikes! I wonder what's gotten into him all of a sudden!

"Apollo?" Wright asked, tilting his head to the side in mild confusion, it looks like you've been running.

"Trucy… tried to kill me…!" Apollo exclaimed through short breaths. The red-haired attorney had barred himself up against the door and was looking rather pale, now that Wright thought about it.

"She tried to kill you? I do hope this is some kind of misunderstanding…"

Suddenly, furious knocking filled the room as a certain angry magician banged on the office doors.

"Polly! I was in the middle of a rehearsal! How am I supposed to prepare for my show at the Wonder Bar if my practice assistant runs off on me?"

"Practice!?" Apollo yelled through the doors, his Chords of Steel in full force, "Don't practice the 'Swords through Box' trick on me! Can't you use that Mr. Hat of yours!?"

Even though she was on the other side of the door, Apollo could hear the sound of Mr. Hat's mechanism springing open and the wooden clacking of the mannequin's mouth as Trucy used her Mr. Hat voice through the door.

"Ah, but Polly, my dear, I have to stay in tip-top shape for my appearance tonight!"

"Ack! So you're admitting I could've been skewered!"

As the two argued through the office doors, Wright laughed lightheartedly and grinned at Apollo.

"Alright, you two. Settle down. Apollo, let Trucy into the office, I don't think she's going to try to skewer you here."

Apollo sighed and removed himself from the door, allowing the dressed-up magician to walk into the office.

Trucy turned to Apollo and placed her hands on her hips, forming her mouth into a pout as she bounced.

"Polly, as a magician, I take my job seriously! I wouldn't practice a trick on you if I wasn't ninety-five percent certain I wouldn't hurt you!"

Apollo slumped over and his iconic hair horns flopped down over his face as he began to sweat, "Uh, what about that other five percent?"

Trucy crossed her arms and looked up in thought.

"Hm… I guess it would be hard for you to defend me if you're the one pressing charges, huh?"

Wright laughed at the pair's antics, but then straightened his expression and turned towards his daughter.

"Trucy, I'm going to have to ask you save skewering Apollo for another day."

Apollo looked over at Wright with the same deadpan expression, "Um, how about we settle for not skewering me… at all…"

"Actually, Apollo, I have some good news for you. You'll be able to put that attorney's badge to good use very soon."

Apollo instantly straightened up and crossed his arms, his expression all business.

"Really? I have a client?"

Wright frowned, "Well, technically she hasn't requested your services yet, but I'm sure she'll be willing to let you defend her. After all, she is an old friend of mine. You've met her before, too."

Apollo's eyes widened in shock and he once again began sweating, "Wait… don't tell me… 'She' wouldn't happen to be Ema Skye, would she?"

Wright nodded, grinning, "Yeah. It's a long story, but she's in a bit of a bind. She hasn't requested our services directly, but a friend of mine filled me in on the situation. There's been a murder at the police station, and it seems like Ema's been framed. She's already been arrested and is down at the detention center already."

Apollo's frown only deepened after hearing this news.

"Wait, but if it's at the police station, then I'm sure there are tons of witnesses... and it'd be almost impossible to investigate the scene!"

"Yeah," Wright nodded, "They're already calling it an open-and-shut case. I've even heard they're giving it to a rookie prosecutor."

Apollo's shoulders slumped.

"The first big case I have in three weeks and it's already looking bad…"

Wright laughed.

"Don't worry, Apollo. I'm sure things aren't that straightforward. I don't remember a single 'normal' case from my days as an attorney. You've read about that one case where I cross-examined a parrot, right?"

Apollo looked at Wright with a deadpan expression, "…Let's hope that's a torch you'll never pass to me, please…"

"You should probably get going," Wright pointed out, turning his attention to the clock in the office, "It's already 1:30, and you'll probably need the rest of the afternoon to investigate."

Apollo turned his head to the clock as well and straightened up immediately.

"Right. I'll head over to the detention center first. It's no good investigating if I haven't even offered my services to the client."

Trucy turned to Apollo and replied, "I'll come with you, Polly!"

"Hey, weren't you supposed to be practicing?" Apollo pointed out.

"Yeah, but we haven't gotten to investigate together in a while!" Trucy noted.

Apollo didn't bother following up with a retort. He knew well enough that Trucy wouldn't relent either way. Apollo turned to leave the office with Trucy in tow, and Wright watched them until they made their way out and shut the door completely.

Wright's smile turned to a serious glare as the former Attorney turned to one of the shelves next to his desk. The shelf was covered with clutter now, but behind all the colorful magician's props and random junk that had accumulated over seven years, there lay old files and books from Wright's days as the legendary defense attorney.

He pulled out an old, dusty manila folder from the depths of the shelf and checked the name written on the tab.

Nodding to himself, Wright sat himself down on the couch in the office and crossed one leg over his other knee, leaning back and lifting the file up in front of him. As he did so, a single photo and a few papers fell out, and Wright set folder down on the cushion next to him as he picked up the dropped papers. Now that the folder was out of his hands, the name written on the tab could be read clearly.

"Diego Armando"

December 17, 1:30 PM

Detention Center

Visitor's Room

"Well, here we are..."

Apollo slumped his shoulders and gulped, a nervous look plastered on his face. Trucy's eyes widened and she brought a hand to her mouth in surprise.

"Man, Polly! You sure don't look good. You look like you're the one who's behind bars!"

"I'm just nervous about Detective Skye… I mean, she's usually in a grumpy mood even when she hasn't been framed for murder, so now I'm afraid she'll be- Ack!"

Apollo jumped backwards when he saw Ema Skye appear behind the glass window in the visitor's room. From the irate look on her face, Apollo figured his fears were realized.

Yikes! If looks could kill, she'd have another murder charge on her hands right now!

"So now I'll be… what exactly!?"

Apollo heard himself swallow loudly as Ema turned to look at him and cross her arms.

"A-ah… Detective Skye… I uh…"

"Oh, it's you… Apollo, was it?" Ema recalled, frowning and looking to the side, "The guard told me you're here to offer to defend me."

"Ah… yeah…" Apollo nodded.

Geez… she's worked on enough of my cases that you'd think she'd recognize me a little more… Maybe she's just being distant because she's irritated.

"So… uh… Wright told me you got into a pretty big mess, so…"

Ema's eyes immediately lit up at the sound of Wright's name.

"Oh yeah," she said, looking off to one side, "Come to think of it, you're with Wright's agency, aren't you? So, Wright sent you to take my case?"

"Yeah. Although, it's still up to you in the end. You're the client, after all."

Ema frowned and gave Apollo a once-over before nodding as though in resignation.

"Well… you're nothing like Wright, but I guess you'll do," Ema replied, fiddling with her hair.

Apollo's made an exasperated face and slumped his shoulders.

Thanks for the vote of confidence…

"Anyway, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to ask you a few questions about the case."

Immediately Ema's expression soured and the labcoat-clad detective crossed her arms and frowned.

"Unfortunately, I don't really remember anything about what happened…"

"W-WHAT!?"

Apollo was taken aback by this, recoiling visibly from the shock. Immediately after his shock subsided, the red-vested attorney's shoulders slumped and he let out a sigh.

Please tell me I'm dreaming…

Trucy looked over at Apollo as though she were impressed and smiled.

"Wow, Polly," the magician pointed out, "I don't think I've ever seen you this crushed! Not even in court!"

It feels like all the remaining hope I had for this case was extinguished at once…

Apollo placed his finger on his temple and took a deep breath.

"So, Detective Skye," Apollo began, "Could you tell us what you do remember?"

Ema frowned again and looked up in thought, "Hmm, well, I remember going to bed last night, but I don't anything from this morning at all. My first memory of today is waking up in the detention center…"

"Wow," Trucy chimed in, "Sounds like a bad way to start the day!"

"Are you kidding me!?" Ema looked forward and furrowed her brow in anger, "I wake up in the detention center with a spitting headache, and the next thing I know I'm being called in for questioning!"

Apollo nodded, "I imagine that didn't take long, considering your condition."

"It was brief, thankfully, although one of them didn't even believe I had amnesia!" Ema replied, "I'm a detective! The least they could do is treat me nicer!"

As a suspect, I don't think you get the same privileges as a detective. That would kind of defeat the point of being detained here…

Apollo thought for a moment before deciding upon his next question.

"So," he asked, "did they at least tell you why they arrested you?"

Ema pouted and twiddled with her hair grumpily.

"Even worse..." she replied sharply, "They showed me. Here's a photo they took right after we were discovered."

Ema produced a color photo and with the guard's permission slipped it through to Apollo.

The photo was of the inside of some room with a bunch of lockers in in, as well as a couple of shelves and a filing cabinet. Two bodies sat collapsed on the floor of the room, one surrounded by a large pool of blood and the other surrounded by broken glass. It was undeniable that the body surrounded by glass shards was that of the unconscious Ema Skye, but the other body- the body of the victim- was a man Apollo didn't recognize wearing a police uniform.

What was even worse about the whole situation is that, sitting in Ema's limp hand was a handgun that was issued to all detectives at the precinct.

"That's one of the evidence rooms near the forensics lab. There's only one door in or out, and I was told that the second the gunshot rang out, a bunch of police officers rushed towards the scene."

Apollo frowned.

"In other words," he began, placing a finger on his forehead, "We've got a room with no way out but through a sea of witnesses."

Why do I have a bad feeling about this!?

-Crime Scene Photo added to Court Record-

Apollo calmed down a little and regathered his thoughts. There were still a few things Apollo wanted to clear up.

"Detective Skye…" Apollo turned towards the brown-haired detective, "You mentioned something about having a 'splitting headache' when you woke up. Did you get that checked out yet?"

"Don't need to…" Ema pouted, raising her hands to the back of her head, "I've got a nasty bump in the back of my head. It's been bothering me all afternoon!"

Which is to say, a little over an hour and a half.

"Yowch…" Apollo replied before furrowing his brow in thought once more, "Hmm…. Perhaps your memory-loss and that particular injury are related."

Hmm… well, I think that's all Ema will be able to tell me for now... I guess I won't find anything else out unless I can investigate the scene…

"Well, thanks for answering our questions. Don't worry, Ema! We'll clear your name!" Apollo replied.

Ema frowned and crossed her arms, but didn't say anything else to the young attorney as she stood up and let the guard escort her back to her cell.

Trucy expression turned downcast and she frowned, "Poor Detective Skye… it must be hard waking up behind bars…"

Apollo nodded, "Yeah… that's why I'm going to give it my all to defend her. For her sake, and for Wright's! Come on Trucy, let's go investigate!"

December 17, 2:16 PM

LA Police Department

Front Entrance

The second the red-clad defense attorney saw the bustle around the front entrance of the police department, his heart immediately sank.

"Can..." Apollo stuttered, watching police officers and detectives walking in and out at regular intervals, "Can we even get in to investigate the scene!?"

Trucy smiled and her eyes flashed with a mischievous glint.

"Don't worry, Polly!" Trucy smiled, clutching her fists together, "Daddy told me once 'the best way to sneak into a scene that's off-limits is to act like you're supposed to be there in the first place!"

"…" Apollo turned and gave Trucy a very unamused look.

"What? I think its good advice!"

"I can see that working with me, but what are you going to say? 'I was planning on performing card tricks for the forensics team'?"

"Hehehe…" Trucy stuck her tongue out and knocked on her forehead playfully through her silk hat, "I guess you're right."

Apollo shrugged, "Well, it's worth a try, I guess."

With Trucy in tow, Apollo waltzed up to the door of the police station as inconspicuously as he could manage and slipped through the main entrance.

"We did it, Trucy, we-"

"Stop right there, pal!"

Someone called out from behind Apollo in a booming voice and ran up to the two would-be infiltration experts with an angry look on his face.

The large man had short brown hair and stubble peppering his chin came rushing up to Apollo and Trucy and scowled at them fiercely. The man's dark green overcoat flapped behind him as he ran, and his dark shoes made squeaking noises every time he took a step.

Ack… did he step in a puddle or something? You can hear his shoes from across the station!

"Hey Pal! You guys don't look like detectives! Sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave! Normally we wouldn't be so uptight about visitors at the station, but there's been a murder!"

Apollo drew attention to his lapel and pointed to the tiny, round badge pinned to his vest collar.

"I know. That's why I'm here. I'm Detective Skye's defense attorney."

"Hey! I hope you weren't planning on trying to investigate the crime scene, pal! It's strictly off-limits to anyone outside of the investigation team!"

Ack! Shot down before we even got a look at the scene!"

"Hey, Apollo, you think this guy has a weakness like Detective Skye?"

Apollo looked the scruffy detective up and down and shook his head.

"There's nothing that immediately stands out. I doubt he'll be that easy to crack…. Man! I wish I knew what Wright would do in this situation!"

"Hey pal!" the scruffy detective yelled, "Did you just say Wright? As in, Phoenix Wright!?"

Apollo scratched the back of his head.

"Ah… yeah. He's something like my mentor, I guess. Do you know him?"

The scruffy detective gave a sideways grin and chuckled loudly before replying, "Are you kidding, pal? Surely Wright's mentioned me once or twice! I'm Senior Detective Dick Gumshoe! Back in the day I would help Mr. Edgeworth out with his cases, and Wright would bumble around with his purple-robed partner and present his attorney's badge to everyone."

From what Wright told me about you I get the impression that you did more bumbling around than he did, but it's funny to picture Wright about as clueless about some of his cases as I am about this one…

"So, since you and Wright go way back, mind if he check out the scene?"

Gumshoe's shoulders shook as he chuckled with a friendly smile plastered on his face, but then his expression changed and he put on a confident smirk.

"Nice try, pal! Just because Wright's an old friend doesn't mean you get special treatment! Rules are rules! The evidence room is off-limits!"

Apollo's face grew weary as he slumped his shoulders.

I didn't think it'd be that easy…

Apollo turned to Trucy as if she were about to ask the magician for some help or advice, when the doors to the police station swung open and an interesting figure stepped into the station. There wasn't really anything too flashy or abrupt about the way the person entered the police station, but it was perhaps because Apollo was at his wit's end with this train wreck of a case so far that he turned to look towards the door.

The man who walked in was nothing short of bizarre.

It wasn't like he had an over-the-top ridiculous appearance and it wasn't like he looked particularly out-of-place at the police department. After all, he was rather well dressed in a dark grey dress shirt, light green tie, and black slacks and looked like he could fit in rather well with the other detectives and investigators at the precinct.

Or rather, he should've been able to, if it weren't for the distractingly out-of-place piece of science-fiction strapped to his face.

The metal mask the man had on covered his forehead, eyes, and much of his nose, and had three glowing red lines running horizontally across it. Apollo couldn't see any sort of strap to the device, so it seemed as though it were attached to his face rather than being worn over it.

Aside from the strange eyewear, the man also had unnaturally white hair for his age. While his face was mostly obscured, the parts Apollo could see, as well as other aspects of his appearance, gave the impression that the man standing before Apollo was around his age, if not a little older. With that being said, the silver hair the man sported looked all but natural.

He wore the unnaturally silver hair long, the somewhat spiky hair swept back over his head and tied back into a short, spiked ponytail. Three strands came forward, sticking out a little before falling over the center of his mask.

Gumshoe came up to the man as he walked towards the three and nodded, "Ah, you must be the new prosecutor Mr. Edgeworth told me about!"

The masked man nodded.

"That's right. I'm Proescutor Gamma. I was assigned to this case not too long ago."

Gamma turned towards Apollo and paused. Apollo wondered if Gamma was looking at him or not, but he couldn't tell for sure with the metal mask covering his eyes.

"You… that's an attorney's badge. Are you here to investigate the murder already?"

Apollo was taken aback initially.

S-someone… someone recognized it!? I didn't even have to show it to him!

"Polly! Stop spacing out and answer him, this could be our chance!"

As Trucy's voice brought him out of his shocked stupor, Apollo turned back to Gamma and nodded.

"Y-yeah. My name's Apollo Justice. I'll be defending Ema Skye in court tomorrow, so I was hoping to take a look around the crime scene."

"No can do, pal!" Gumshoe shouted. Gamma and Apollo both turned back to him, one considerably more exasperated by the scruffy detective's insistence than the other, "I told you, that area's off-limits to anyone not involved in the investigation!"

Gamma frowned and tilted his head to look at Apollo.

"Uh, Senior Detective Gumshoe, was it? I'm a rookie, so I might not have any room to speak, but wouldn't it be unfair to prevent the defense from investigating at all?"

Gumshoe arched an eyebrow at the mysterious new prosecutor and crossed his arms smugly.

"Gamma, you know that only Prosecutors are officially allowed to investigate, right?"

Gamma shook his head.

"I know, but doesn't that seem a little unfair to you? Ah… maybe I'm speaking out of line. You do have more experience than I do, after all. At any rate, I'd like you to make an exception for the defense this time."

"W-what!?" Gumshoe asked, reeling back in surprise.

"I... I have the authority to do that, right?"

Gumshoe slumped his shoulders and a small pout appeared on his face.

"Well… erm… yes you do, Mr. Gamma… but-"

Gamma held his hand up and nodded.

"Then that settles it. The defense may investigate the scene. In the meantime, Senior Detective, I'd like to ask you some questions about the investigation so far."

Gumshoe nodded and the two headed off to discuss the case.

Apollo stood in the middle of the station, blank-faced and wide-eyed in utter confusion.

"W-what just happened?"

Trucy smiled, "I think the prosecution just gave us permission to investigate."

Apollo placed his finger on his forehead and scrunched his face up.

Yeah… but that's crazy… what's going on here!?

"I don't know what he's up to, but if we're allowed to investigate, I'm not going to complain. Now, let's go find that evidence room!"

To Be Continued...

AN: So, here's the first chapter. Admittedly not a whole lot of investigating gets done, but it'll pick up, don't worry. I'm trying to make the story seem like the games, so there's going to be times when you see evidence and other things added to the "Court Record". If you guys are interested, I could probably post the court record at the beginning of every chapter, but otherwise I'll just count on you guys to keep a record of your own when it comes to what Apollo's found.