December 16th, 2027
10:05am
Smoke rose over the ruins of Courtroom Number Four. The entire building was cleared while the police waited for the bomb squad to inspect for more explosives.
Phoenix had been in a meeting with Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth, and was unable to attend the trial in person. However, when one of Edgeworth's personal detectives barged into their meeting, furiously scribbling on an e-notebook, and alerted to a bombing in the courthouse, his body felt fifteen years younger and he charged for the door.
One of Edgeworth's subordinates, a twenty-four year old prosecutor named Naia Graves, accompanied them to the scene. She was processing the charges for the Space Center bombings, and Edgeworth planned to put her in charge of investigating this bombing.
Without knowing anything of the other trials, Phoenix knew the bomb had gone off in the Space Center trial.
When they arrived, Graves and the bomb squad ran inside. Edgeworth met with Blackquill and Fulbright, while Phoenix scoured the area for Apollo and Athena. Being unsuccessful in finding them, Phoenix approached one of the ambulance crews arriving on scene and told them the defense attorneys in the courtroom where the bomb went off were missing. Amidst the chaos, Juniper stumbled out of the courthouse with an officer's help.
After securing Blackquill, Edgeworth went to comfort Phoenix. Graves' voice blasted over his walkie-talkie. "We've found bodies! At least one of 'em's got a pulse. First responders are bringing her out while we recover the other."
Almost immediately after she said so, paramedics rushed out of the building with a limp body in their arms.
Phoenix's heart plummeted through the ground when he caught a glimpse of orange hair and a yellow jacket through their arms. "Athena!"
"Do what you need to, Wright." Shortly after one crew got Athena on a gurney and loaded her up, another crew brought out another figure, bleeding greatly, and one heavily burned figure. The burned figure was also loaded into an ambulance, but the bloodied figure was just laid on the ground and covered by a tarp.
"Incident report, Chief! Three bodies recovered, two female, one male. Identified as both members of the defense, and Detective Candice Arme. Arme was found dead."
"Thank you, Graves. I'll have the information sent to your partner to prepare charges." Edgeworth lowered the walkie-talkie. "I'll drop you off at the hospital, Wright. I hope to see your subordinates alive and well."
December 16th, 2017
7:15pm
Wright Anything Agency
Wright was sitting in his office, in the dark, when his phone rang. "Ah, Edgeworth. How are things going at the prosecutor's office?"
"We've got a suspect. Trial for the courtroom bombing begins tomorrow at nine a.m.. The suspect is being charged with terrorism, one count of murder for Detective Arme and two counts of attempted murder for your two subordinates."
"Is there an attorney on the case yet?"
"Not yet, we've just finished indicting the charges. The hospital took their sweet time letting us know Doctor Cykes survived the bombing, so we had to wait to see if we were charging two murders or just one."
"Who's the suspect?"
"A 'Juniper Woods'. She's in questioning as we speak regarding her charges."
His jaw tightened. "I want the case, Edgeworth."
"Wright. This woman is accused of trying to kill your subordinates. Why in the world do you want to defend her?"
"I've gotten to know Miss Woods pretty well recently. I truly believe she didn't set off the bomb, or plan to kill Arme, Apollo, or Athena."
"You astound me. However, I will grant you the case. If you would come by my office tomorrow morning and fill the paperwork out, I'll send it to the courthouse."
"Thank you, Edgeworth."
"Tell me, Wright, how are they faring?"
"Athena was out cold the whole time we were there, not surprising considering she'd been in surgery for about seven hours. Apollo was definitely worse for the wear, but he was at least conscious. He seemed better once she came out of surgery. He wouldn't talk to us at noon, but was fairly chatty about 5:30."
"Gavin said he was severely burned. Would you say that's accurate?"
"If you want my opinion, I'd say he was nearly burnt to a crisp. Poor guy looked like a lot. He had Trucy set an alarm to go off as soon as he could get more morphine in him. Neither of them are good by any means, but Apollo is definitely better off… He's conscious, required no surgery… and, well, Athena is suspected to be deaf. "
"Ah, I see. That definitely messes with the plan. However, don't worry too much about her, Wright. Even without her hearing, she is still our greatest weapon. The power to end this flows within her veins, not her ears. Why do you think I was willing to let her out of my sight?"
"I thought it had something to do with Kay and Sebastian. I remember you telling me something back when we first talked about me bringing her onboard, something about how her circumstances were 'quite severe.' Figured it had something to do with their penchant for trouble."
"Oh no, they love her. Kay especially was disappointed when I received a notice recently stating she's ineligible for adoption."
"Y-You were in line to adopt her?"
"She reminds me of my younger days, bearing the strength I wish I had following that dreaded day. It pleases me how someone's taken her into their heart."
"That would be Apollo, actually. She's been under his guardianship since November. Pavilion Crisis tried to seize her custody, but he wouldn't let her go."
"Shield's always been a stickler like that. He's got the whole staff wrapped around his little finger too. If our legal system wasn't in the state it's in, I would send my personal detectives after him and that asylum. Franziska's been chasing some horrid allegations concerning European asylums, and they make me more than a little wary of our own."
"I heard about that on the news, something about how European asylums are allowed to execute patients with the lethal injection without going through the courts?"
"Yes. That very reason is why I could not give you many details about Doctor Cykes until she was in my custody. We could have lost her at any moment. It took many nights of sleep away from me and my team. There is much more to the story, but I am not permitted to speak of it unless absolutely necessary." "
"Is Athena allowed to speak?"
"I'm not allowed to disclose that information. I will say, however, this all goes much deeper than a bomb on a rocket."
"Sounds like it. This really is the Dark Age, isn't it?"
"Indeed it is, Wright. And if we lose this foothold we have, the courts could go under completely. With Blackquill in my hand, and Cykes in yours, we should hope it is enough. If the truth behind GYAXA's HAT incidents eludes us once more, I would say for certain that we've lost our last chance."
Phoenix finally rose from his chair. "Yeah, it's for this very reason I returned." He walked to his couch, glancing down at the jacket laying there, and contemplated of all he'd fought for, and of everyone that had been lost in the fight. "Time to bring it to an end."
He grabbed his jacket and locket before heading out the door. The battle which decided the war was starting, and he needed to revisit everything he knew before walking into court.
Two trials were now connected, and he wouldn't be surprised if it all went full circle back to the promise he made Edgeworth prior to being reinstated. He had the dreadful feeling Edgeworth was vastly understating when he determined all these happenings were much deeper than just a simple sabotage.
No, the world had gotten significantly worse when the original call from Edgeworth arrived, from a European phone number, asking if he'd like a young lady to join his resurrecting firm.
There was something dark and unholy lurking beneath it all, and a horrifying possibility where Athena was the thread bringing years of crime to a head just in time for this battle was beginning to become clear. He'd fought off his wrongful conviction the year before, if they could just undo the sentence of the prosecutor who sealed the Dark Age into being, perhaps the corruption could finally start to unravel.
His phone buzzed again, but with an unsaved number. "Hello?"
Phoenix looked up at the dusky sky, watching stars peek one by one into view as the golden sun faded beneath the skyline, before an ever-familiar voice met him on the device's other end. "...Apollo?"