Chapter 9: The Enigmatic Phoenix
Argus Hakan slowly drifted back into the land of consciousness.
"Ungh...?" he moaned.
"Oh, SHIT, you're still alive?" shouted a voice, and suddenly Argus hit the ground. This shock woke him up proper and he tried to stand, but there was a sharp pain in his gut.
Argus identified the man above him as a cop. It appeared Argus had been stabbed overnight and was being taken to the morgue. The cop seemed intent on bringing him there, too, because he took out a knife.
"Alright, pal, you're going down!" he said, but before he could do anything he was stabbed in the back. The cop collapsed and Richard Wellington was standing there.
"Wellington!" said Argus. "You saved me."
"That's right, boss," said Wellington. "I still need to get paid." Then he looked down. "What should we do about the cop?"
Argus opened a nearby dumpster and grabbed some red clothes, took off the cop uniform and replaced it with the red clothes. "Now they won't know he was a cop."
"But won't they-" Wellington started to say, but Argus silenced him.
"It's a gambit, my friend, but it should work. I trust my friend Storm Sente."
"Okay."
Argus grabbed the cop's transceiver and said "Hey I have to go away for a bit, the victim is lying outside the tall tower on the other side of the courthouse, send someone to get him, over."
Argus heard some very angry voice yell at "him" on the side but he had already shut it off and took out his phone to call someone.
...
"Now, we can't exactly sit around doing nothing," said Argus after getting off the phone. "Let's continue the investigation into Dakoolguy."
"Sir," said Wellington, "there's a new prosecutor in the office, and his name is John Phoenix."
"Never heard of him."
"Sir," said Wellington, "that's because he showed up out of nowhere overnight, and he already has an extensive win record in our courts."
"Impressive," Argus thought, though he was skeptical. "Where did this John Phoenix come from?"
The next day, Wellington took Argus where he suspected John Phoenix came from, there was an orphanage nearby called Saint John's Orphanage.
"Miss Head Nun," said Argus to the head nun, Sister Bikini, a woman rumored to be tied to the Kurain Spirit Channeling cult. "We've heard from witnesses that a boy strongly resembling John Phoenix lived here once."
"Don't recognize the name," said the head nun. "Now get out of here before I beat you with my stick!"
Argus tilted his head, she didn't seem to be lying. But then where could John Phoenix have come from, if not here?
The pair left the orphanage, and that's when Argus saw a wedding ceremony was being held in the nearby church. He squinted at the bride and groom so he could make them out and stiffened.
"Wellington, I've got something to take care of," said Argus and he ran to the church.
Present Day
Storm Sente watched the police take Phoenix away and ran to Gumshoe.
"What happened?" said Storm.
"Well, pal," said Gumshoe. "Richard Wellington was murdered in his home and only Phoenix was there."
"What?!" shouted Storm. "But it's impossible that Phoenix killed someone!"
"Don't be so sure of that pal, he WAS the killer in the last case," said Gumshoe, presenting the note.
"Hmm..." Storm pondered, and he had an idea.
While he was doing that, Seven and Ana were waiting for him to come back out when a shady man came by. He removed his shades so he was no longer shady and they saw it was John Phoenix, the prosecutor.
"Storm Sente in there?" said John Phoenix.
"Yeah," said Seven. "What's it to ya?"
"Nothin'" sniggered John Phoenix. "It's just adorable how he thinks he can save Phoenix Wright with me on the case."
John Phoenix laughed and walked towards the tall tower near the courthouse.
Seven hummed. "My pseudo-detective instincts are flaring up," he said, then Storm came out.
"I may have an idea," said Storm. "The culprit is apparently the same one as the one from the previous case, and that's why they think Phoenix did it."
"So?" said Seven.
"So, if we can find the true killer in the last case, we can nail him for this one too!" said Storm. "I've been thinking about Argus' murder ever since it happened and I've figured out how there can be a culprit other than Phoenix, and there's only one person who could have done it."
"Who?" said Ana.
Storm's face darkened.
"All shall be revealed... as long as you follow my plan."
To be continued.