AN: Hello! I'm back! Sorry this update is late; I had been kinda down in the dumps. But it's here and in full blast, answering the question to just how does Lyn plan to stop the disbarment? PS: a couple of cameos from certain characters arrive as well as a POV change! As usual, thanks for all your kind reviews, favorites, follows, and pms! The support I receive for writing really means a lot! Hope you enjoy today's update!
Side note, I just finally beat the main story of Spirit of Justice. Have yet to do the DLCs, but I can say I enjoyed SOJ for the most part, imo it was a decent improvement from DD. Glad they gave my baby Apollo time to shine in this one!
Bowser Jr's Descendant: Yess. Or my other favorites- "Step 1: Drink. Step 2: Make mistakes. Step 3: Pretend you don't remember." Well, imagine what she would have done/said to him if she were drunk lol. I think she's a little more controlled because she remembers how extreme the guy can get over petty things.
Gilgamesh The King of Heroes: Cool! I just beat it!
bwburke94: I must have the best timing ever.
DarkAgea: Wow, thanks! I really adore the Complete Turnabout- I was inspired by that story to write this one! And thank you! I feel that oc/self inserts should just be written like any other character. They don't have to be over the top awful. Glad you like it, I try lol. Yeah, there's a lot of info so I leave that there for everyone's sake including my own, especially with the last arc XD. Drugged Edgeworth was one of my favorite things in that arc haha...God willing if Phoenix were there he would have pulled an Miles Edgeworth chooses death moment again xD.
Kristoph would have had hell on his hands, if Lyn were drunk lol. I think she held back because she doesn't want to be a target for him. It's hard to say, but their relationship has always fascinated me on those terms... Haha I like Milyn. Or we could call it Ledge XDDDDD.
It's all good! It's up in the air right now with Justine and Sebastian...in the very least I think we can plan on seeing more of Ray.
And thanks! I had so much fun writing the bad end. I normally don't write dark things like that, but I happen to play games/read dark stuff of that nature so it was fun to try out!
DJJ680: I agree. Maybe another time we'll see that again.
Sailor Winx: Mmmmm. I'm not going to say quite yet. But she'll be making an appearance down the line... And true, he's good at getting people. He's not very good at holding down anything stable though lol. Oh God, that'd be a sight Larry teaching Lyn how to score xD.
A-nervous-fan: Haha I suppose so. Possibly. I see that happening at some point. Well, you'll find out soon enough~
OBSERVER01: Sure did! We'll see...
JordanPhoenix: Haha thanks! Yeah, those things were really fun to explore and write about ! Vagueness is always fun kukukuku...
NNinja: I definitely agree with you. Larry is very good at picking up, he just sucks at maintaining anything. Well, yep! Here it is. I hope it's entertaining to see how it goes down!
Jack54311: It happens, the whole life bit. I'm flattered! Well, they don't all gotta be. There were some good inserts that helped inspire me, so they are out there. It's just writing like it's a normal character albeit with a different circumstance ;D. Thanks so much. Haha did I XD?
Cataquack Warrior: This might be the case, if we were still in London, but we're not there anymore. BUT trust me, the samurai dog thing is never going away. Like ever.
AkabaneKazama: Yeah? Well, each to their own lol. To be honest, I'm not a huge Franziska fan, I liked her a bit better in the AAI games though.
Marisandini: Wellllll I can't say that I really got into the detail of 3-5 much.
a spooky ghost: Thank you! I am quite flattered. Hope you enjoy this update!
Evan: Thank you so much, it means a lot! Haha, don't worry, there's no way I'm dropping it. It just takes time to write, and also deal with that thing called life which is tiresome at moments. But, thanks for your support!
April 18th, 9:39 PM
Courthouse
"Warning. Alarms have been activated. Police to dispatch in five minutes if alarm has not been deactivated," the security system repeated.
My accomplice peered behind her with unease as she shined the flashlight in my direction. "A-are you almost done planting those doohickeys yet? We're running out of time..."
I wiped the sweat from my brow. I planted the last one from my bag under the prosecution bench. With this, the whole courtroom was covered. "Finished! Let's get out of here!"
I climbed over the prosecution bench like a monkey and darted toward the exit. The teenager kept up the pace, still holding up the flashlight as we headed through the door. It shut behind us with a bang. We never looked back. Just kept running. Running through the halls. Down the stairs. Through the cafeteria. Finally, through the back door we snuck in through.
And I couldn't believe it. We had made it out alive.
"We're... almost... there," panted the girl, as we ran to our getaway car, a beat up blue Toyota.
My heart pounded against my chest so hard that I thought I would drop dead at any moment. But I wouldn't die, no, definitely not here at the scene of the crime.
Under the cover darkness, I snatched open one of the backseat doors, crawling in, while the thief followed, slamming the door behind her. "Let's go! We only got three minutes to spare!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Larry replied slamming his foot on the gas pedal, speeding out of the parking lot as fast as possible.
"HA! We did it, Ms. Doom! We beat the alarm!" Kay said raising a fist up in the air.
"I...I wouldn't say that," I breathed, before I got sick. "I think we narrowly escaped the alarm. I didn't think the courthouse had a real alarm system-let alone one so hung up on time!"
When Kay lock picked our way into the courthouse, we had thought it was smooth sailing until the alarms went off declaring the police would be notified if it wasn't turned off. Yet, even with the blue prints and little thief, we had no idea where the controls to the alarm were. Which meant we had to do the job, get in, and get out. Fast.
But nowhere as fast as what Larry was doing, barrelling down the street, cutting in front of other vehicles, going at least 70 miles per hour. The courthouse vanished from behind us, looking like nothing more than a spec of dirt.
"I think...you can slow down now, Larry…" said not sure of how much more of an adrenaline rush I needed tonight.
"But Lyny! We need to get a good distance away so it'll be impossible for those dirty coppers to get us!"
He had a point. "...Just don't get us killed."
I sighed to myself. At least the grunt of it was done. I had only a few worries. But even if the police searched that courtroom, they wouldn't think to check the hiding spots. I could probably count on their incompetence. It would come down to how effective the devices were; Ema gave me her word that they were fully operational when she shipped them from London. I just had to trust her scientific ability.
At this point I trusted it better than Larry's driving.
(Please remind me to never take part in high speed adventures again…)
"Don't worry," he said turning around to give show me his thumbs up. "Everything will be okay-"
"AHHHHHHH! L-Look out!" yelled Kay.
In his idiotic moment of not keeping his eyes on the road, Larry had ended up on the wrong side of it with the added bonus of narrowly crashing into a car. But not just any car, a goddamn police car!
The beads of sweat were running out of every pore on my body. "YOU MORON! Did I need to add not to get us arrested?!"
The police car swiftly did a u-turn, flashing it's lights, and was now on tailing our asses.
"S-sorry Lyny...but I think we're in trouble…" the man started to cry. "I'm too young to go to jail!"
"It's okay, we can just break out! I can get floor plans and-"
OBJECTION!
I shook my head furiously. "Larry...if there were a time when I really needed you to come through it would be right now! I… can't go to jail!"
The doofus was starting to slow down. "But Lyny, we can just get Nick to defend us! I'm sure it'll turn out okay!"
"If I get arrested tonight, Nick won't even have a badge to defend us tomorrow!" I yelled.
"H-huh? What do you mean…?"
"Please. Just drive. I'm sure we can get away...! Please...I'll even give you...a-a...kiss!"
"A... kiss...?"
The glare of the red and blue lights grew closer and closer...until we were sent into warp drive. Larry firmly glued his foot to the accelerator. We were definitely passed 70 and 80...now it had to be at least a 100 miles an hour!
"Wow! He sure is serious!" Kay blinked.
Though, not like I really felt like it, but if it got us into freedom, so help me God, I would do it.
The cassanova didn't let up the pace. The cop was still behind us, struggling to keep up. We made it to the highway where numerous cars were speeding. Larry was a madman, using that to his advantage, switching between lanes so many times I lost count. I didn't know what the hell he was doing, until I realized that he was trying to get away by using the exit lane.
Looking behind us, the cop was nowhere in sight. The lights and sirens were gone…
Kay blinked. "Wow! That...was so cool! I felt like I was in an action movie!"
"You..did it. You saved us!" I breathed out, unaware of how I had been holding my breath.
"Heh. Heh. Heh. What can I say? Nothing I won't do for two cute damsels in distress…"
"I'm actually impressed this thing held up as well as it did."
"I only ride in the best style!"
"Or out of style…" remarked Kay snidely.
I kept a look out on behind us, in case we had prematurely thought we escaped, but as we turned back on the path to return to the city no police car was in sight. Though, this time we vowed to go far slower. And the ride was less nausea inducing for a while, until we realized our back tires were flat and running out of air. The flats hit us after we drove past the courthouse, which was being checked out by a few police. They didn't notice us, but Larry remembered there was a service station not too far up the road that we could pull into to fix the tires and lay low.
April 18th, 10:43 PM
DK Motors
The service attendants had waved us in, asked us what the problem was, and got to work, lifting the car up to remove the tires. As we waited, I looked around. It wasn't all that large. It felt cramped like a hole in the wall kinda place, that smelled of oil and exhaust fumes. Another broken up car, with a busted headlight and hood was left a few feet to the left Larry's jalopy.
(And I thought Larry's was run down...this looks like a head on collision. Whoever owns this must be a crazy driver.)
The attendants said it would take around 30 minutes to fix up, so we had some time to cool down. Larry and Kay were having some asinine conversation about God knows what in the corner, while I decided to walk around for a bit to clear my head.
It was hard to believe I was already here, facing what was going to be the most important day for my time here.
The time had flown by surprisingly fast, even with Maya's missing presence. With Maya gone, I had no one really talk to. Well, I did. But not in the same way...so I ended up relying on a few others to chat with. I did videochat Ema, but for the most part she was pretty engaged with her forensics studies for the exam. I talked to Klavier as I plumbed for some more information...though I had this feeling he was taking it the wrong way, with that rockstar ego of his. The most sane person to speak with was Mr. Blackquill, who had returned to the states last month. He was sweet, even if his sense of humor had a bit of bite to it.
To be honest, I had thought of all sorts of ways I could stop it. But I settled on staying as far away from the public eye as possible. Because I'd been getting friendly with Klavier, I knew that he was eager to debut in court, so asking for the case instead of him would be out of the question. Whether he were up against Kristoph like he'd initially had hoped for or Phoenix. I imagined perhaps about now, or a little later that Kristoph was warning Klavier about the 'forgin' attorney', and giving him explicit instructions on how to proceed with the trial.
And I certainly didn't want to be around for that. I recalled how in Apollo Justice, Kristoph was so paranoid that he kept tabs on anyone related with this trial for 7 years. I had no interest in being stalked, maybe ruined, or even dead if I was caught messing with his plans. So, I'd be as far off as I could.
When I thought about it, I realized more so how ridiculous this whole case was. If not for the jerkiness of Magnifi, this wouldn't really be going down. While I did happen to watch a few of the amazing Gramarye tricks on TV, it didn't stop them for being douches. If Magnifi didn't blackmail Zak and Valant about Thalassa and ship her away, we wouldn't be here. Because of that bullshit, he controlled Valant and Zak holding that over their heads, forcing them to go through with shoot me in the forehead plan. Which is more stupid, considering he was already dying, but it's Magnifi we're talking about. Had to go out with a bang.
But if he wanted Zak to inherit the rights to his magic to begin with by sending him in first, why send Valant at all? Just tell the poor sod, you are second best in magic, instead of getting his hopes up. I didn't approve of framing Zak for the murder, but with Valant always playing second fiddle to Zak in work and in love, being consumed by jealousy wasn't too far of a stretch.
To be honest, I didn't really care about Zak or his life. While I didn't think his intentions were bad, I thought he was a real jerk. While it was Phoenix's fault for presenting evidence without knowing the source of it, (cause honestly, Phoenix was always kind of naive)...Zak's disappearing act, just made a bad situation even worse. And from the sound of it, it looked like he was going to ditch whoever was defending him in court either way...as well as Trucy. I get that he wanted the rights to Magnifi's magic to go to Trucy and that he wanted to protect Valant...but he could have just fucking showed Phoenix the real diary page. That way, Phoenix being the decent lawyer he was could have defended him better. Sure, Valant might not leave scot free, but he deserved to be punished for framing Zak anyway. And even when he tried to help Valant, Valant was believed to have killed Magnifi instead. Plus, because Zak never bothered telling Valant that he was giving the rights to Trucy, Valant wasted 7 years of his life trying to return to magic.
To add to the already overwhelming amount of bullshit, Zak returns 7 years later to ruin Phoenix's career as a poker player by trying to make it look like Phoenix cheated. And when that fails, he then clobbers the person he hired to help him cheat with a bottle...even though Phoenix has been caring for Trucy. And has just helped him secure the rights to have Trucy be the sole inheritor of Magnifi's magic.
When he died the exact same way, I found it hilarious. Maybe that could be deemed one of the good things Kristoph did...by a stretch of course. I didn't blame Zak for not picking Kristoph as lawyer, seeing as he noticed how he was willing to use dirty underhanded tactics to win.
Overall, I could give a rat's ass about saving Zak or Valant's reputation. But if I could manage to get Phoenix on the right direction with the case, he wouldn't lose his badge. It would be fine if Zak ran off...we just needed to get in the way before the diary was brought up.
And I had just the plan.
(God help me that it goes the way I need it to go.)
My thoughts were interrupted by voices coming from the doorway into the even smaller office portion of the service station.
"Aww, I told you before Maggey, that it's alright. I had a bunch of money saved from Christmas luckily."
"But...I know I'll make it up to you with a steak dinner! It's my fault your car hit the pole like it did after all!"
My heart stopped beating.
(You're kidding me. Now of all the times…!)
Walking into the in entrance through the doorway was the towering figure of Detective Gumshoe with the rather petite figure of Maggey Byrde.
No. I just needed to relax. Sure, it wasn't the best time to see people we knew...but so long as we were cool, calm and collected it would be fine.
"G-G-Gummy! J-just what are you doing here?" squawked Kay.
Larry said nothing as he fidgeted, buckets of sweat were pouring off of him.
I sighed, it looked like I had to be the level headed one here. "Hello, Detective. And Ms. Byrde, was it?"
The pair approached.
"Yes, ma'am!" she saluted, though she was in a pair of shorts, tshirt with knee and elbow pads.
Detective Gumshoe raised his eyebrows up and down. "Ms. Doom! Kay! ...Harry? It's funny seeing you here together."
"W-w-well what d-do you know!" snapped Larry. "I just had a good time out with two cuties!"
Ignoring Larry, I started. "...Anyway. Larry's car broke down and we had to bring it here. We were out...at an arcade. Everyone wanted to try out the new uh, Jammin' Ninja vs Steel Samurai fight game."
"Yeah! It was awesome," Kay lied. "The Jammin' Ninja kicked butt!"
"Huh...I see..." said the detective as he looked past us and at the car being fixed.
"What're you looking at my car like that for? Don't judge my taste!" screeched Larry clenched fists.
Gumshoe chuckled. "Oh, it's nothing. It just made me think of a car we got a radio message about, speeding down the highway."
"Haha, very funny..." I said, wiping my forehead. "Erm, anyway, what happened to your car?"
Maggey's shoulders slumped. "I sneezed at the wheel and rammed right into a pole..."
"Well, at least you're okay, right?" asked Kay.
The brunette straightened up with a salute. "That's true! Maggey Byrde survives another day! No matter what horrible things happen to me..."
"Sounds rough...maybe you can join the losers club!"
Gumshoe stomped his feet. "No way, pal! Maggey's no loser! She just happens to be the goddess of misfortune!"
(Well, that's one way of putting it...)
"By the way, Ms. Doom," the scruffy detective began scratching the side of his face. "Is everything alright between you and Mr. Edgeworth?"
I flinched. "What do you mean by that?"
"I had mentioned you when I last saw him and got really annoyed with me..."
I folded my arms. "Hmph. It's not my fault that's he moody."
After our last 'chat', things had become pretty tense between us. We hadn't spoken in some time, nothing more than a brief hello in passing. Besides that, nothing. I did my best to ignore it, but it was difficult. I wanted nothing more than everything to go back to normal, but I knew it wouldn't be possible. Not until I gave up my big secret. And until I spilled the beans...it would just hover over us. I knew Miles. I knew he wouldn't let go of chasing down the truth. But what I didn't know was how he'd take that truth. Would he believe it? And even if he did, would he hate me? Would he even care about me still?
"Well, if you need any help resolving your lover's quarrel let me know! I got some experience," the detective beamed.
My cheeks burned. "...It's definitely not like that." And certainly not like I'd want advice from Gumshoe anyhow...
"YEAH! Lyny promised me a kiss after all!" Larry said, stepping over to me, placing an arm around my shoulder.
"What?!" Gumshoe boomed. "Is this the reason Mr. Edgeworth is all sulky?!"
"Nononono! That's definitely wrong!" I nearly screeched, pulling away from Larry.
Gumshoe was skeptical, raising an eyebrow at me. It was a stupid misunderstanding, but I didn't know why it bothered me so much.
Before I could further protest, the mechanics came back in telling us that the tires were replaced. Larry and one of the mechanics went to the next room over to do the payment, giving me a much needed break.
Desperate to change the topic, I turned to Maggey. "Uh, so what's up with the gear you got on?"
She saluted. "I work at Pulp Friction! The best roller derby in LA!"
Kay's mouth dropped wide open. "Ooo! So you get to fight on roller skates for work!?"
"Well, I mostly referee. But I do play sometimes too! They call me 'Bruise Wayne'! "
(I'm not sure what's killing me more: Her stage name or how Kay looks ready for a career change.)
"We're all set to go ladies!" Larry reemerged doing a thumbs up, headed back to his old car.
"Bye Gummy! Bye Bruise Wayne!" waved Kay as she trotted off.
I gave a curt nod, and a quick goodbye to the couple as I followed my companions, eager to get away. Following Kay into the open left hand car door, I slammed it shut, listening to sound of Larry shifting gears to pull out of the station.
With nothing else to do regarding the mission, I requested that Larry drop Kay and I back at my apartment, as Kay was staying the night to make it easier to execute the plan for tomorrow. Outside of the Sunnyside Up apartment complex, I reluctantly gave my end of the deal to the buffoon driving as he wouldn't shut up about it. Nothing more than a quick peck because he'd be out of his mind if he believed I was giving anything else.
April 18th, 11:42 PM
My Apartment
Once settled in my place, Kay wanted a slumber party.
I did owe her one. Not like I could ask for anyone else's help with breaking into the courthouse and planning to sabotage a trial for the following day. That wouldn't go over well with anyone I knew besides Kay. So, it wouldn't hurt to blow off some steam before tomorrow...
I ordered a couple of pizzas because I had this feeling Kay ate like a beast. And sure enough I had been right. Most of the pizza was gone in the blink of an eye. I was lucky enough to manage to get a few slices in. And of course, I had to sit through the Jammin' Ninja marathon on TV. But I found that okay because I enjoyed the Jammin' Ninja far more than the Steel Samurai.
After a few hours, Kay passed out. But not before asking me for some other mission where sneaking around like a ninja was involved. I had nothing, and I hoped to not have anything like this coming up anytime soon.
Luckily, she was already on the couch in my living room, so I just threw one of my blankets over her, turned out the lights, and crawled into my bed holding on desperately to my magatama. Even though everything was set up for tomorrow...I was still on edge. If it didn't pan out, I'd basically had blown a year just to fail.
Time ?
Location ?
The skies are pale gray. I can't stand still. My feet seem to have a mind of their own. Back and forth, I mill about in the fog, in a place I can't make out the details of. It reminds me of one of those modern art museum pieces. I can't really grasp an understanding and everything is foggy from my point of view.
"Relax."
But from a point of view like Mia's... anyone could interpret it with ease.
The light surrounded the deceased defense attorney, lighting up the haze around me. While, she appeared calm, I did sense a faint sense of irritation coming from her. Most likely because I've been in contact with her a lot more often leading up to this day.
I grin sheepishly. "It's hard."
"You've planned this down to the very last detail," Mia said flicking a bang across her face. "You will be fine."
"But...what if I'm not fine? What if something goes wrong at the last minute?"
The woman sighs. "Even in the off chance that it does, we can fight the disbarment, seeing as we know what pieces of evidence to collect and who to track it to."
"I...guess."
"By now, you've gotten a feel of how the courts work, so I'm certain you can pull it off," she smiled with confidence.
I still have my doubts, but I give a quick nod.
Mia gives me a reassuring pat on the back. "Go back and get some rest. You'll need to proceed tomorrow, regardless of how it all turns out."
"Alright. Later," I wave as I walk away into the haze which is slowly rising.
April 19th, 10:23 AM
Courtroom No. 7
Kay and I had arrived early, just as they were allowing watchers of the gallery into the courtroom. It was packed with excited viewers and I couldn't really blame them; it was a pretty high profile case, with a famous magician group being head center...along with the turnabout master and a rookie rock star. Honestly, thinking of it like that just sounded absurd. Regardless, we acted as though we were normal spectators, though we had another agenda. When the time was right, we'd finish the plan we set in motion last night. A few minutes ago I sent Kay outside the room so she could await my signal through text. I held the remote control in my pocket, finger lightly grazing the smooth feel of the button I was going to hit to set off the bombs.
Phoenix looked down at his report in hand. "Our witness was certainly able to increase the amount of IV liquid in the bag. All he had to do was work a little magic. And the prop was..."
TAKE THAT !
"The victim's syringe..." blinked the judge.
"It's the perfect prop for the 'Magically Increasing IV' trick! And easy enough for an amateur to use," said Phoenix placing his hands on his hips.
OBJECTION!
Klavier yelled, slamming his fist on the wall behind him. "Wh-what kind of evidence is that!? The syringe was clean! Not a single trace of liquid in it!"
OBJECTION!
Phoenix shook his head. "And don't you find it odd, Prosecutor Gavin?"
Klavier was sweating bullets. "Wh-what...?"
"The victim had the syringe to administer his insulin shots...There should have been traces of insulin left inside!" Phoenix pointed.
The gallery was murmuring up a storm due to Phoenix just exposing the IV trick...and right now Valant had a minor break down doing that stupid 'alakazaaaaaugh' thing.
(Now!)
I took a breath as I slammed my finger against the button in my pocket.
"...that the burden of the trial has been a bit too much to bear-" the judge stopped midway to sniff. "Egads! What is that awful smell?"
"Smell...?" Phoenix's eyes widened and then he gagged. "What is that?!"
"Acht...ung," Klavier said covering his mouth. "Who cut the cheese?!"
All around me in the gallery, everyone was gagging, covering their mouthes, crying and holding their breath in feeble attempts not to take in the devastating stink around them. The stink bombs certainly were potent without a doubt. Ema hadn't lied.
(Heh. Well, I learned that a bad stink could clear a room before...)
"In...this case...I see no need to prolong this trial. The defendant's innocence is clear to me, thus I am ready to pass down my verdict."
I thought I saw Klavier ready to raise an objection, but he had to stop himself from puking in the prosecutor's bench.
HOLD IT!
"Mr. Enigmar...?" asked the judge. "What are you doing? I'm about to declare you not guilty-"
The magician shook his head, slightly covering his mouth. "There is one thing I wish to make clear. Today in this courtroom you cannot declare a verdict. It is impossible."
"I'm afraid the defendant is quite mistaken. I most definitely have the authority to declare a verdict."
"Except...tell me, how do you plan on announcing your verdict...when your defendant does not exist?"
"Doesn't exist? ...What are you talking about?"
People around me were filing out of the courtroom. I sent a quick text off to Kay, telling her to prep for Zak.
"I am talking about...this!" Zak proclaimed as he suddenly vanished from the stand.
"Mr. Enigmar!" cried Phoenix.
Klavier stood up having recovered somewhat. "G-get the witness! We can't let him escape!"
"Bailiff! Make sure all the exits are sealed!" yelled the judge.
The courtroom descended into chaos. I took the chance to slip out from the gallery and into the hallway.
And outside...was quite the amazing sight. Zak was kneeling on the ground in pain, Kay with her leg slightly raised in the air, while Mike Meekins was squatting on the ground cuffing the attempted escapee.
"Ms. Doom! I did it! Nothing can escape the Yatagarasu!" she said dropping her leg, folding her arms.
(And it looks like one swift kick in the nads was all it took...)
"Sir! It's time you returned to your rightful place in the courtroom, sir!"
"I'm afraid that won't be necessary," a gallery watcher leaving the courtroom looking green. "The judge decided to postpone the trial until tomorrow because of the unbearable vomit inducing smell."
"It's not that bad," I said.
The man stared at me. "If it's not bad, then tell that to the people puking like there's no tomorrow! Including that prosecutor!"
(Jeez...just what did Ema put in these things? They may have worked a bit too well...)
"I'm outta here!" the man stormed out.
"...Well, Meekins. Let's bring the defendant to the defendant lobby," I instructed. "The police will probably around to take him back to the detention center."
"Yeah! Let's go-"
"Kay, you get out of here."
"Huh? But you can still use my help!"
"...Not right now," I said looking around. "The best help you can give me right now, is leaving the courthouse immediately. If I need you for anything else, I won't hesitate to call. But right now, I need to do this on my own, understand?"
"...Alright. But you owe me another pizza!" she said running off.
Once she ran off, I went with Meekins to initiate the next part of my plan...working with Phoenix.
April 19th, 10:57 AM
Defendant's Lobby
Between the awful smell and my client running away, I had no idea what to think. In the lobby, which was normally relatively empty was not only myself, but now a handful of police. Though, I doubted Mr. Enigmar would come back this way if he were making his grand escape. And of all times too; right before he was going to be declared not guilty. Just what the heck was he thinking?
(I probably won't get a chance to ask... he seemed pretty determined to get out.)
Yet, it seemed I might be mistaken, as the sound of the door opening took my attention. And there he was taken in by a familiar looking bailiff and...Ms. Doom? What was she doing here?
"We've apprehended the criminal sirs!" saluted the bailiff loudly screaming into his megaphone.
The police swarmed in on Mr. Enigmar, who looked pained for some reason.
"Just what do you think you're doing!?"
"You're coming back down to the station back into police custody!"
"Good work, Meekins! Maybe there's hope for you yet!"
"Nn...what a kick...Trucy doesn't even kick that hard..." Mr. Enigmar murmured as the police recaptured him and dragged him out.
(Looks like I'm going to have to question later. But in the mean time...)
I turned my attention to the prosecutor. "Ms. Doom what's going on? Did you help stop Mr. Enigmar from leaving?"
The woman adjusted her glasses. "Nope. That was someone else. But anyhow, that's not really important. We have to get out of here now."
"Why...? What's going on?" I asked.
"There's no time to explain. Let's go!" she demanded snatching my hand and pulling me forward.
"But my bike-"
"We can get your bike later!"
There was no stopping her. For a small woman, she had quite the pull. And because of that, I was dragged out of the courthouse and into her car.
Aprili 19th, 11:31 AM
Tres Bien
(Of all the places I could have been dragged to...this was the last place I'd ever thought I'd return to...)
The brightly painted pink walls and curtains, the expensive furniture, overpriced food...Without a doubt it was Tres Bien. That nightmare of a restaurant, if you could even call it that.
"Ms. Doom, why did you make me come here?" I asked.
"Because, I had to think of a place where no one in their right mind would go. If someone were to follow us, they might go to the usual spots you frequent, you know," she said looking around warily.
"What do you mean-"
In front of appeared the jiggling bowl of jello that was Jean Armstrong, still dressed up as a chef, rose in his mouth winking at me. "Oh là là! Monsieur Wright! It 'as been too long!"
(Not long enough...)
"Erm, good to see you too Mr. Armstrong...actually I thought you received a sentencing?"
"Oui, oui!" he bared his teeth, rose petals exploding everywhere. "Do not remind me! I 'ad to ze fine and wear zis house arrest bracelet!"
"Ah, I see...sorry?"
He plucked petals off the rose one by one and shrugged. "It'z in ze past. Zo, I am surprised that such a 'andsome man would return to my restaurant!"
"That would be because of me, I'm afraid," chimed in Ms. Doom. "Would it be alright if we just had some coffee?"
"Oui! Please 'ave a seat zere," he said showing us to a booth on the right side before heading into the kitchen.
"What a weirdo," Ms. Doom muttered under her breath as she looked across from me. "Anyway, you want to know why I dragged you here all of a sudden, right?"
I nodded. "Yes. I take it you were watching the trial."
She removed her glasses and shined them on the bottom of her shirt. "Of course. Today...was an important day."
"An important day?"
Putting her glasses back on, she folded her arms, squinting. "It's going to sound crazy, but...I...I've seen a future, where today was the day that you lost your defense attorney badge."
Those words didn't register with me. Losing my badge? That sounded preposterous..."What? But why would that even happen?"
"Really stupid reasons," the woman remarked curtly, clear that she didn't want to elaborate. "At any rate, I think it was avoided. At least for the time being because you didn't present that piece of evidence."
I stroked my chin. "What evidence would that be?"
"...Did you happen to receive evidence out of the blue from someone?"
"I did," I paused. "But how do you know about that...? You weren't anywhere near the defendant's lobby."
She didn't respond. That's when I saw the four psyche locks appear in front of her.
"Like I said, I've seen a future where it doesn't end well for you..."
Just what was she hiding?
"Ms. Doom...?"
"I'm going ask that you trust me. It's important...it sounds crazy, but I'm not making it up. If today had went as it had before, you'd be out of a job," she frowned.
Not being a defense attorney? That just seemed so bizarre. I'd been doing it for now three years to the point where I would call myself experienced. Losing my career right when I finally got the hang of it...that would be cruel.
The woman shifted in her seat uncomfortably, reaching into her pocket. "What...? Where is it...?"
Jean Armstrong returned with two coffee cups, setting down in front of us. "Bon appetite!"
Just as he was about to leave, Ms. Doom grabbed him by the arm. "What did you do with it?"
"I 'ave no idea vat you mean," Mr. Armstrong said somewhat nervously.
"My magatama! Give it back or I'll make sure that house arrest bracelet is replaced with a ball and chain!" she growled.
"Urgh! I am too delicate for zat!" he cried hastily throwing the green nine shaped object on the coffee table.
"...Again? Really?" I asked. I remembered the last time he stole my magatama.
"I could not 'elp it..." he frowned embarrassedly. "Forgive me, mademoiselle..."
Ms. Doom snatched up the magatama from the table. "Hmph, just go. I hope this coffee doesn't suck."
"Oui, oui..." the large man sulked off back to the kitchen.
"Ms. Doom...you have a magatama too?" I asked, wondering if she could see the secrets in people's hearts like I could.
"You saw for yourself. But I can't do what you do. Mine serves a different purpose."
I blinked. "Y-you know...?"
"It's not like I can lie to you. You'd see it pop up, right? My secrets?" she smirked a bit. "...It's a bit complicated, though. I know you'll want answers and all that. But right now, I need you to listen up: Because of the fiasco in court today, you have one more chance to get everything straight. Whatever you do, don't you dare present that diary page. It's a fake."
My jaw dropped. "A f-fake?!"
"Someone wants you to screw up bad. That's why I dragged you here, because they probably weren't anticipating court to turn out the way it did. Right now, they're probably freaking out..." Ms. Doom said, taking a sip of the black bile called coffee, cringing.
"I- I could have presented a fake piece of evidence...Jesus..." If I had that end result she spoke of before, might not have been so far fetched... "Wait a second."
"Hm?"
"Then that means...you had something to do with that mess earlier. Considering you knew the original alleged outcome. It was you, who caused the big stink in the courtroom!" I pointed.
"Hey, hey, hey...you don't have to put it like that...but I won't deny it," she began to sweat. "It was more of a group effort. But I'll kill you if you tell anyone. Especially if this somehow leaks out to Mr. Edgeworth. I'll probably fined if not sentenced for it..."
"I promise I won't tell."
Nothing more was said for a few minutes. My coffee went untouched for I knew how gross it was from past experiences. It was all a bit much to take in, that I could have potentially ended my career with presenting a piece of forged evidence... But did she know so much? Where did her knowledge of the future come from? How did she get a magatama? Was it from Maya? And what did hers do if it couldn't see into people's hearts?
"Nope, this completely sucked," she said placing the coffee cup down on the white clothed table. She threw out a couple of crumbled up 20 dollar bills and left them on the table. "I think it's time to go."
"Go where?" I asked.
"..." she removed her glasses and twirled them a few times before placing them back on her face. "I think it's best we go to the source of the fake first."
"We...?"
The woman slid out of her seat and stood up."Duhhhhh! Of course, I'm coming along! You don't know where the fake came from after all...don't tell me you think I'll be a bad assistant?"
"No, no, it's not that, I'm just a bit surprised..." I said. "Wait, assistant?"
Ms. Doom pressed her glasses forward. "Don't just sit there, Mr. Wright! Let's go!"
With that she bounded out the door without so much as looking back. I stood up, unsure of where this whole debacle was going. I didn't believe she was lying as the only time psyche locks appeared was when I asked how she knew all of these things. Because of that, I had no other choice than to follow along because there was no way I was giving up my badge, at least not without a fight.
Evidence:
Prosecutor's badge: With this, I can prove I'm a prosecutor. Dunno why we don't wear them on our lapels like defense attorneys though.
Magatama: Magical sacred charm that should allow me to communicate with Mia.
Profiles:
Maya Fey: Age 19. Probably my best friend at this point.
Miles Edgeworth: Age 26. A good friend, even if he's a bit of stick in the mud sometimes.
Detective Gumshoe: Age 33. The guy who's saved my hide more times than I can count.
Larry Butz: Age 25. My favorite wannabe casanova.
Judge: Age ?. Old timer judge. No one know his real name.
Mia Fey: Deceased. My spirit guide who pops by occasionally to give advice.
Phoenix Wright: Age 26. The man I'm supposed to be saving. Pretty awesome dude.
Franziska von Karma: Age 19. Whip happy prosecutor who came to our rescue.
Shi-Long Lang: Age 26. A totally badass Interpol agent.
Simon Blackquill: Age 20. A weebo prosecutor who's really nice.
Ema Skye: Age 17. The scientific fan girl who I hang with.
Klavier Gavin: Age 17. Rock star and new prosecutor. I'm totally not a fan.
Kristoph Gavin: Age 25. Called the 'Coolest Defense Attorney in the West'. He makes me uneasy.
Kay Faraday: Age 17. Self proclaimed thief.
Maggey Byrde: Age 23. Goddess of Misfortune. Works at roller derbies.
Jean Armstrong: Age 39. Frightening restaurant owner of Tres Bien.