Ema

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I downed the steaming cup of coffee. Despite being dressed and ready, I was still exhausted from my late night. Trucy had invited me to her forensics club after school to give a presentation, and I was ecstatic. On the downside, I had been up really late practicing my favorite techniques for the speech. So here I was, hoping I would have an easy day at work and fiddling with my glasses while I waited for the Snackoo flavored Pop-Tart to heat up.

Then I froze. I had seen something against the pink of my peripheral vision. Worried, I slid them on and turned.

"Aaaaahhhhhhh!" There was a huge blue spot shining on the floor. A spot that could only be from a Luminol reaction.

I tremulously moved towards it. This is a lot of blood! Someone must have been seriously hurt! Or...no, that's impossible! Nobody's been murdered in my apartment!

There was a trail leading to my white-carpeted living room. I followed it, trying not to shake. It snaked down the hallway, into the rather large closet where I kept my forensics supplies. I stood for a moment, staring at the door and afraid of what I might find. I'm fine, there's nothing in there. My hand fumbled with the knob for a moment before I flung the closet open.

Thank goodness. I breathed a sigh of relief when nothing fell out or jumped on me. There was a slightly open bottle of bleach hanging off a shelf, drops of liquid slowly falling into a puddle on the carpet. Oh, of course... In my terror, I'd forgotten that bleach and Luminol react. I blushed, embarrassed at my mistake.

Then, I looked back down at the carpet. The stain was patterned in a weird way, in what seemed to be letters. "A...p...r...wait a second!"

I could feel my face go beet red as my palm hit my forehead. Of course. It's April 1st...

By the time my embarrassment had turned to frustration, which was only a few moments, it took all my willpower to not hit something. As it was I slammed the doors hard enough to hear the bottles rattling inside. My Pop-Tart helped me cool down a bit, but I was still grumpy when I went in to the Precinct.

Of course, I immediately got directed to a new crime scene: a young woman dead in her house. She was slumped on the couch, the TV still on to some infomercial. Sitting next to her was a pack of mint Oreos, all but one eaten. By the looks of it, someone had swapped out the cream for toothpaste.

I sighed. More pranks to deal with? Great.

Getting to use my favorite skills, however, made it worth the fuss. The day went by quickly and it only felt like a few minutes before I had to leave for the high school. I stopped by my apartment to gather some of my supplies that I couldn't really carry with me, and then I was off.

After about 10 minutes and some directions from Trucy, I arrived at the cafeteria, where the group was starting to gather. I stood around awkwardly for a few moments before I was attacked from behind.

"Ema!" I looked behind me to see a figure in a baby blue sweater and knee-length, navy skirt, with her arms wrapped around my waist. It took a second to recognize her.

"Trucy? What happened to your magician's outfit?"

She grinned as she let go. "Capes and hats and strapless dresses are against the dress code… I'm going to go change into it though. You can start setting up on stage while I do that." She darted out of the room, presumably to her locker, and I took that as my cue to get out my supplies. It felt a little odd because everyone kept staring at me, but then Trucy came back with a teacher in tow.

"Ema, this is Mrs. Monroe, the teacher who leads Forensics Club. Mrs. Monroe, this is Detective Ema Skye, the guest speaker I invited." Trucy bounced happily as she introduced us.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm glad you could come today." The woman smiled kindly as we shook hands.

"I'm glad too. I love getting to demonstrate my skills to kids who are willing to learn!"

Mrs. Monroe was about to say something, but another girl came up with a question. "Sorry, I need to help this student. Go ahead and set up; we can start whenever you're ready." With that, the teacher walked off and I was left with Trucy.

After a few more minutes, I was ready to go. Everyone gathered and sat down, except for my magician friend. She introduced me to the crowd, and then I began.

I had put together all my most showy techniques. Everyone had been given a pair of glasses like mine, so they could see when I sprayed for blood, atroquinine, and footprints. I went down into the audience and got a volunteer to do a fingerprint dusting. I showed them my X-Ray Analyzer, also using a volunteer. I really enjoyed myself, and it was even better when I asked for questions. A couple of kids asked something about my speaking and stage presence...I wasn't sure what they meant, but I tried to answer as best as I could. One boy, though, seemed really interested in what I had to say. He asked about the science behind luminol testing, and I may have gone a little overboard in my explanation.

When I had finally finished, Trucy came back onstage. I had assumed it was to close my presentation, but apparently it was for a different purpose.

"Can we all give another hand for Detective Skye?" Everyone followed her lead when she smiled and began to clap. When the applause died down, she continued. "I'm going to close the curtain now, so she can pack up her supplies. But while she does that, we have Steven Melville performing 'The Bells' by Edgar Allan Poe, and Alicia Emerson reading Holmes's 'The Chambered Nautilus'." Everyone clapped again, and the curtain slid shut.

Trucy bounded over, energetic as always, and said, "That was great! I've always thought your science was a little like my magic; both have an explanation, but are amazing to watch."

I smiled. "Thank you, Trucy. But what was that whole poetry thing about?"

"Were you not planning to stay for the show? I'm performing, you know." Her brow was furrowed and she frowned.

I didn't want to disappoint her, so I obliged, even though I didn't really get what was going on. "Alright. I will."

Her bright smile returned, as did the bouncing. "Yay! Oh, and make sure to wear your glasses during my act!" She hugged me once more then rushed off stage before I could ask why.

Trucy

I ran out, trying not to snicker too loudly. I didn't want to disturb the poetry, or give Ema any hints that something was up.

It felt like forever as everyone else performed and I introduced them all. That was probably just because I was so excited for my act, though.

Finally, it was my turn. "Thank you to everyone in the audience, and all those that participated today, especially Detective Skye. Now, it's my turn to close out our show with some magic." I waited for the applause to die down before starting off with my magic panties. I did a few more tricks before it was time to try the new one I'd been practicing.

"This is my top hat." I held the object out so the front row could see. "Does this look like a perfectly normal hat to you?" When they all nodded, I continued. "For this next trick, I'm going to need some pennies. Does anyone have one with them?" There was a rustling as they searched before a few people in the audience held one up. I grabbed a couple and dropped them in the hat.

"Mmm...I think I'm going to need a lot more than that...maybe a few hundred. Sorry guys!" I slid the hat back on my head as the audience groaned in disappointment. I glanced back at Ema. She seemed very engaged, but confused and fidgety as well.

I concealed my smirk easily as I moved on to another trick. A couple of well hidden adjustments later, I felt the extra weight of the 200 copper coins over my head.

"Wow...my hat's getting a little heavy..." I pulled it off, holding it high, and shook. All the pennies came spilling out, along with some fine powder. The coins pushed it into a mushroom cloud shape, and as the audience clapped, I sneezed. Luckily, I had brought a prop for such an occasion, and a carnation appeared in my hand as I finished. But the cloud hadn't fallen yet, and I continued sneezing. After a few more times, the powder had finally settled, and I stopped.

"Oops! I suppose I made sneezing powder appear too!" Everyone chuckled, thank goodness, and as I joined them I saw a note on the stage, half tucked within the coins. I could guess what it said, since I certainly hadn't put anything with the pennies. I had, however, showed Apollo how the trick worked. I wasn't mad though. He would definitely receive his payback later.

As I decided this, I finished off my show by making a Forensics Club banner fall from the ceiling, seemingly without supports. The best part, though, was the look, caught between anger, understanding, and astonishment, on Ema's face when she saw the message I had written her underneath with a little bleach: "Forensics can also be the art of public speaking. April fools!" She had mentioned before that the chemical reacted to Luminol, so I had swiped some of both when she was setting up. I was glad I had, because it was really hard to keep from bursting into laughter onstage.

"That's it folks! Thanks for watching and have a happy April Fool's Day!" Just before I bounced my way off stage, I gave an innocent grin and winked at my detective friend.

Author's Note: Sorry this has taken a while to get up! I've got big tests that I'm studying for...so I've been writing here and there. It may or may not be a while 'til my next update...

Yes, I did take some (Actually, prob'ly a lot) of liberty with their Forensics Club. I'm pretty sure magic wouldn't be considered part of it. But maybe Trucy just, well, worked her magic on Mrs. Monroe. ;D And I apologize if either Trucy or Ema is OOC...I've never written either of them, so I may have misinterpreted. :)

Again, I wanted to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, followed, or favorited. You guys make my day! :D