'Apollo...? Can I see you in my office for a sec?'

The attorney looked up from his desk. He had only just warded off Trucy from his own office by showing the disappointed magician a lack of lipstick on his face, as well as any indication of love-bites on his neck. And, somehow, he knew he'd have to perform the same action when Athena arrived back at the agency - it was to be expected that he'd want some privacy. But, alas, one can't refuse a request from one's boss. 'Of course,' he replied, following Phoenix into his office.

The attorney in blue shut the door behind him as Apollo took a seat. 'I suppose you're wondering why I brought you here today...'

Apollo looked at him, confused. 'Because you pay me?'

'Right,' said Phoenix with a laugh, taking a seat behind his desk. 'Sorry, I've always wanted to say that. Seriously, though...' His face grew stern as he rested his elbows on the wood. 'It's about a case I want you to take.'

Apollo visibly relaxed. 'Oh, that's all? By the way you were acting, I thought I was fired.'

'There's a time and place for everything.'

'Wait, what?'

Phoenix resisted the urge to laugh. 'Anyway, it's a bit of an, er, unusual case. You got a strong stomach?'

Apollo suddenly felt a lot less confident. 'Uh...sure. I can handle anything.' Then: 'but why the secrecy?'

'...Trucy.' He looked to the side, poignant. 'As a father, I've put her through some...undesirable cases and situations. There's some mutilation involved... If I can at least still protect her from the grizzlier stuff...'

The attorney in red nodded, albeit losing a few shades in the process. 'S-sure, I understand.'

'Good.' Phoenix reached into his desk drawer and withdrew a small folder. 'This is the information about our client - about as much info as I could gather from a phone call.'

'"Our"...?'

The attorney in blue smiled. 'Yep. I'll be working with you on this case. But, keep quiet about it until the crime scene is cleared - I don't want Trucy to follow us there today.'

Apollo nodded. 'Alright.'

'Our client's name is Samuel Acre - he's accused of killing his girlfriend...'

There was a moment of silence as Apollo stared at Phoenix, waiting for the rest of his sentence. '...erm, Mr Wright...? Who's the victim?'

Phoenix stood up from his desk, walking past Apollo and gripping the door handle. 'That's what we're going to find out now. Get your stuff, we're going to the crime scene.'

'O-oh...! Now?' A throb of pain hit him in the head. I've barely had enough time to recover from Miss Faraday, now I've got a murder to investigate? A sudden flow of energy swept through him. No, I can't think like that - it's not fair to our client. He clenched his fists. 'I'm Apollo Justice, and I'm fine.'

Phoenix chuckled. 'Good to hear - I almost forgot.'

Sighing, he joined him at the front door. 'So... Why don't we know who the victim is?'

'The police are still trying to identify the body.'

Apollo felt his queasiness increase. 'You mean...?'

Phoenix looked him dead in the eye, his features locked still. 'I said there was some mutilation involved, didn't I?' Then, with a fatherly smile: 'Trucy...? I'm going shopping and taking Apollo with me.'

'Okay, Daddy! Have fun!'

I'm starting to regret having all those sweets, thought Apollo. His stomach gurgled violently as he and Phoenix left the office. Scratch that, I'm never having candy again...

About half an hour later, both attorneys hopped off of the tram service and stood in front of a bronze arch.

'This is Tectonic Park,' said Apollo, turning towards his boss. 'Wasn't this built just recently?'

Phoenix signalled for him to follow. 'Yep. After the murder in People Park, the council received a lot of pressure from local residents to build another one.'

'Can't say I blame them. I wouldn't want to spend time in a place where someone was murdered.'

'Yes, well...' He issued an amused arm around him, indicating towards the various statues, trees, monuments and walls that they passed by. 'If that's the case, then I'd say we can expect a third park to pop up soon.'

Apollo shot him an incredulous look. 'Are you serious?'

'I'm afraid so.' Phoenix made his way to a sign that was stuck in the middle of the path. 'Let's see...' A finger traced along various shapes and lines, touching each one before a definite stab indicated that a destination had been found. 'Ah, here we are: "Poseidon Fountain." Detective Skye said that's where the body was found.'

'Oh, Ema's the lead investigator...?'

Phoenix laughed. 'Not by her choice, she just happened to be on break here at the time.'

Great. The last thing we need is Ema with her lunch cut short - we can barely handle her when she's stuffed with Snackoos. Apollo had a sudden thought. 'Wait a second, then that means that the police have been here the entire time. The crime scene can't have been tampered with, or at least, not much.'

'Good thinking,' said Phoenix, nodding. 'I was hoping you would notice that - it means that the crime scene is as the murderer left it.' He chuckled, low. 'Makes a good change to some cases I've had to deal with. Does the term: "SL-9" mean anything to you?'

'Er... It sounds familiar...'

Phoenix grimaced. 'I had to sort out a case relating to it...' Images of Blue Badgers, jars, and many, many-a re-arranged body flashed in his mind. 'You should read the case file, but I'll tell you my side of the story, later.'

Apollo scratched his head. 'Does it relate to this crime?'

'Not really, but it's a good lesson in specialty laws.' A knowing smile. 'But, who knows? Being familiar with the case could win you some brownie points with Detective Skye.'

He stared at the older man. 'Huh?'

'Ah, speaking of which...'

The two entered a small clearing amongst a wall of bushes. Sitting in the centre was a large fountain. A pool of water ringed a detailed, burly statue of Poseidon - he held a hefty trident in one hand and a harp in the other. A thick tree sprouted from the side of the clearing, casting web-like shadows across the smooth, dirt ground. Benches speckled the outskirts.

It looks pretty enough so far, thought Apollo. His eyes then fell upon the lines and lines of yellow police tape, and the several officers scurrying behind it. In particular, an irritable-looking woman whom was popping chocolate treats into her mouth. Then they came along.

She ducked underneath the tape and walked briskly towards the attorneys. She frowned at the smaller one. 'Justice... You got here quick.'

Apollo closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable sting on his forehead. It didn't come. With some trepidation, he squinted open an eyelid.

A bright, child-like smile was stretched across the detective's face. 'Ah, Mr Wright! Good afternoon.'

Phoenix chuckled. 'Hello, Ema. How have you been?'

Apollo felt his mouth fall open. Is that...genuine excitement for another human being?

Both detective and attorney fell into nostalgic conversation with various quips being exchanged, some compliments chucked here or there and the showing of worn, bottled powders.

This is... Wow. Note to self: bake Ema some metaphorical brownies.

'Alright,' said the detective, earning another chuckle from Phoenix due to the sudden change in her demeanour, 'back to business. You two are the suspect's defence?'

Apollo nodded. Here we go, get ready for the search denial. Not even Mr Wright could convince her to-

'Gotcha. Mr Wright, do you have any questions?'

I. Give. Up.

Phoenix held a hand to his chin. 'There's one thing we would like to know. Have you managed to identify the victim?'

Ema's eyebrows rose slightly. 'Actually, yes - just a few minutes ago.' She rubbed a temple with a finger, mouth twitching in annoyance. 'We would have known sooner, but the forensic is a new guy, and... Well, let's just say he now knows that this line of work isn't for him.'

Apollo's stomach started to gurgle again. 'Is the victim really...?'

She nodded. 'We had to turn off the fountain because there was so much blood in the system. It looked like a cherry flavoured punch-bowl.'

Phoenix jumped in before Apollo could turn any further shades of green. 'Er, that's something all right. But if they didn't analyse the body, then who did?'

The child-like grin returned. 'I did, since no-one else wanted to step up to the plate.' She buzzed with excitement, her eyes sparkling with a long-awaited passion for her job. 'It might be because of a technicality, but I finally got to do science.' Her smile widened. 'Forensic science.' Ema gripped Phoenix by the wrist and yanked him towards the fountain. 'Let me show you what I had to do. It was so awesome and cool, scientifically speaking.'

Apollo pinched his cheek, having long-since concluded that he was dreaming - he followed the pair with dumbfounded steps. She's going to tell us...everything about the crime scene... He stared at Ema and the uncharacteristic amount of energy that was pouring from her being, her excited fingers pointing around the fountain and as well as the rose-tinted glasses that she gleefully shoved onto Phoenix's nose. Forget "brownie points", Mr Wright just uncovered the long-lost city of El Doughrado. Then: ...wow. That was bad, even for me.

Twenty uncharacteristically Snackoo-free minutes later...

'So,' chirped the detective, flicking her glasses up onto her forehead once more, 'to sum up: the victim's name is Lilith Green. She was Samuel Acre's girlfriend, a lover of animals and nature, and was brutally murdered by having her face carved and throat slashed by a cutlass.'

'Er, Ema...? You may want to work on your sentence structuring there...'

She flicked a snack at Apollo. 'There's no feelings in this line of work, Justice - only facts. Anyway, the cutlass is currently being analysed for fingerprints, and we should have an autopsy report ready once the coroner scrapes off all the coagulated blood.'

Apollo's stomach had stirred up so much bile in the past hour that he feared that it had actually become sentient and was trying to communicate.

Phoenix just smiled. 'Thank you, Ema. You didn't have to do this for us.'

She waved him away with a dismissive palm. 'Don't worry about it - it's the least I could do for you.' She turned to Apollo. 'Not you.'

Figures.

'Anyway,' chuckled Phoenix, 'Apollo and I will have to be off now. We have to see our client before the trial tomorrow.'

The attorney in red pinched the bridge of his nose. 'The trial is tomorrow...?'

'Oh. Did I forget to mention that?' He rubbed the back of his head. 'Sorry, but yeah, that's the way the cookie crumbles. I thought you would have been used to this by now.'

'Are you?'

Phoenix clicked his tongue. 'Touché. Anyway, let's go. Thank you, Detective Skye.'

She gave them an enthused wave. 'Anytime.' Then, with a crunch of her favourite snack, she turned and stepped back underneath the yellow tape.

Apollo looked at Phoenix as they left Poseidon Fountain. 'I have to know, what was that case, and how do I get Ema to literally give us the grand tour of the crime scene?'

The older man laughed. 'Well, alright. It all started with a man named Joe Darke...'

'...you're lying.'

'I'm not lying - seven sevens was his ID.'

'What an...eccentric man...' Apollo stepped into the Detention Centre with a bewildered look on his face.

Phoenix was close behind him. 'You don't even know the half of it - do you like swimming?'

'Kind of.'

'Never again.' He shuddered slightly at the thought. 'Anyway, I'll tell you the rest later - let's go meet our client. Apollo...?'

The attorney turned his head. 'Yes?'

'I want you to conduct the interview by yourself.' He raised an arm to silence the incoming question. 'I'll still be there - just supervising.'

'Can I at least ask why?'

Phoenix went silent for a second. '...I just need to see something.'

What's this about? thought Apollo, making his way into the visitor's room. He's doing the whole, cryptic mentor thing again... The attorney took a chair with Phoenix pulling one up next to him, both waiting for the guard to enter with their client.

About a minute or so later, a shaky-looking man entered and took a quiet seat. His long, blonde hair was pushed into a frazzled ponytail, falling partially down the back of his tunic-like shirt - he looked almost ready to cry, blue-irises shimmering.

Apollo coughed as the man placed his hands on the bench in front of him. 'Hello. I'm Apollo Justice, and this is Phoenix Wright. We'll be representing you in the trial tomorrow. I was just wondering if we could ask you a few questions about what happened today?'

He flicked a bang of blonde hair from his face, saying nothing.

'You are Mr Samuel Acre, correct?' said Apollo, pulling the conversation back a few steps. He still seems shaken. I'd better take it slower.

However, five seconds went by and not another sound was heard from either side.

Apollo frowned. Huh. Blonde hair, blue eyes, a tunic, and he's silent. All he needs is a blue fairy and... He slapped himself mentally. Better not - we can't risk not getting localised again.

'...yes.'

The quiet voice startled Apollo out of his thoughts. 'Oh, so you are Samuel Acre. Would you be able to tell us a little about yourself?'

Acre rubbed his arm and looked away. 'Erm...I don't...I'm not sure...'

'It's okay, Mr Acre. We're here to save you. The only thing we need you to do is to tell us what you know.' He tried to offer the warmest smile he could - Phoenix cringed at its plasticity.

Despite that, it helped - Acre loosened up slightly. 'But...you don't know if I'm lying... The police seem to think so...'

Apollo gripped his bracelet. 'Trust me, I'll know. If you believe in us, Mr Acre, we will believe in you.'

The blonde-haired man, after a couple more seconds of thinking, finally relaxed his shoulders and sighed. 'A-alright... I'll talk. Um, where do I start?'

'Why don't you start with what happened that day? Just before the crime.'

'O-okay... Er, it was... It was me and Lily's one-year anniversary coming up... Well, not a real one - we're just boyfriend and girlfriend. And... And we decided to meet in Tectonic Park at... At... I think it was about two-thirty.'

Apollo started to jot notes down. 'I see. Were you going to do anything special with her that day?'

Acre sniffled. 'Y-yes... We were going to give each other presents... I was going to give her a special necklace.'

The attorney couldn't help but smile. 'That sounds nice. What was she going to give you?'

'A sword.'

'A what?' Apollo nearly dropped his pen. 'That's...different...' A brainwave hit him. '...Mr Acre. Why would Lilith Green give you a sword as a present?'

'...b-because...I collect... I collect dangerous weapons...'

I had a feeling, but... You could never guess that this guy could look at a weapon without fainting... Apollo tapped the pen to his forehead. 'I think it's safe to say her gift was a cutlass?'

Acre remained silent.

'...I guess that explains how the murder weapon ended up at the crime scene,' muttered the attorney. 'What happened next? Did you touch that sword?'

Suddenly, the shivering male threw up his arms. 'I-I... I swear I didn't do it...'

'I know that.' Apollo tapped his bracelet again. 'I know you didn't do it. I would just like to know if your fingerprints could've ended up on the weapon.'

Acre breathed a few times, then: '...well, I guess... I guess they maybe got there when we exchanged our gifts... I held the pretty thing,' his eyes lightened slightly, 'in my hands before I had to leave.'

Damn, thought Apollo. The prosecution's going to have a field day with this. Before the thought could get a visible reaction out of him, however, it was forced into the pit of his stomach - Apollo quickly changed the subject. 'Why'd you have to leave?'

The blonde-haired man sniffed. 'Because...' He snorted. '...because...' He started blubbering. '...m-my dear, precious Lily...h-hates weapons... They scare her so much...'

Nice one, Justice, real nice. Then: How on Earth were you two a couple to begin with?

'...so, for her to do that for me...to overcome her fear, to b-buy it...' He wiped his face with an arm. '...it just meant so much to me... I was a mess. I needed to clean up...I had to leave the fountain...'

Apollo widened his eyes. 'And that's when the murder happened.'

'I screamed when I returned... Th-there was so much...' He couldn't finish the sentence. '...then I collapsed...and I woke up to policemen.'

The attorney just stared, thinking. Talk about bad luck. He lost his girlfriend, and now he's being accused of her murder. ...not to mention I have a feeling we're going to see his fingerprints on the murder weapon. Well, I suppose it can't get too much worse... Next question-

'Mr Justice. Mr Wright.'

Apollo looked to the guard at the back of the room. You can talk?

'The police require Mr Samuel Acre for further questioning.' His fingers met the brim of his hat. 'I'm sorry, but we're going to need to take him away for the moment.'

The attorney grimaced. Not good - I've barely started with my own questions. But I guess we can head back to Tectonic Park for now. First things first, though. He gripped his bracelet once more. 'Mr Acre. Can I just confirm one last thing?'

'Er...y-yes?'

Apollo stared him down. 'Did you kill Lilith Green? Were you the one who took her life?'

Acre almost cried on the spot. 'N-no... No, I didn't - I could never...'

He held up a hand. 'That's all I needed to hear. Thank you, Mr Acre. Just leave everything to us.'

And on that note, both attorneys said their goodbyes and left the room, walking through greyscale hallways and arriving into the open air once more.

Apollo turned to his boss. 'So, how do you think it went?'

Phoenix scratched his cheek. 'Oh... Yeah, it went well. Good job on only making him cry once.'

'Mr Wright...'

'I mean that,' he said with a forced chuckle. 'But...' His face went hard, and he crossed his arms in thought.

Apollo was slightly anxious - he could tell that what Phoenix was about to say wasn't good. Mr Wright never crosses his arms.

The world trickled on by as both attorneys stood in silence, birds flew overhead and a small gust blew between them, ruffling their clothing.

Finally, Phoenix unfolded his arms and nodded, more for his benefit than Apollo's. '...alright.' He frowned. 'Listen, Apollo. I don't mean any disrespect when I say this, but...'

The attorney in question could feel his heart in his ears, his stomach at his ankles. What's he gonna say? What have I done? Am I fired?

All of a sudden, Phoenix jerked a finger towards Apollo. But not his whole person, just one part: his wrist.

'I want you to give me your bracelet.'

Apollo jumped back. 'Wh-what?! Why? You can't be...'

Phoenix gave him a hardened stare - he was deadly serious. 'I am. I'm forbidding its use for the rest of this case.'

Here we are, from the mind of one who has been afflicted with severe influenza... But that isn't really an excuse for the delay, is it? Although, I can say I finished the last chapter with a crime pretty much planned out in my head and on paper.

Then the fatal flaw reared its ugly fangs, the case was, er, not working - it was back to the drawing board.

So, I had to come up with another one and shove the other one away until I can sort it out properly - I didn't want to make you guys wait, after all. But, I'm happy with this new case so far, so... We'll see what happens.

And that brings me to today. As always, R&R. Rate, review and criticism is always welcome.

Have a good, flu-free day!