A new chapter, a new player, and things start getting weird. Weirder than usual, that is.
Mild spoilers in this chapter for the Yu-Gi-Oh tenth anniversary movie.
Chapter 3
March 8 2028, 11:00 AM
District Court - Courtroom n°2
The man who'd taken the stand was clearly Japanese, somewhere between Ms. Sammons and Mrs. Huang in age, with brown hair and eyes that seemed to change color from a distance, but settled on brown when Apollo took a closer look. He was finishing a to-go cup of coffee when Prosecutor Gavin took his place.
"Court is back in session," the judge announced. "Prosecutor Gavin, is this your witness?"
"Indeed." Prosecutor Gavin smiled. "Let's cut right to the chase, shall we?"
Apollo placed his hands flat on the table. "By all means, Prosecutor Gavin."
"Witness, your name and profession, please?"
The witness finished his coffee and carefully placed the empty cup next to him on the ground. "Yuki Judai," he said when he straightened back up. "Ah, profession? I travel. I help out wherever I can."
"You do charity work?" Athena asked. Mr. Yuki frowned for a moment.
"I guess you could call it that, yeah."
Apollo's bracelet tightened. Mr. Yuki didn't like the label of charity, but why wouldn't he? This wasn't going to be a straightforward testimony. At least he didn't seem to be lying about the traveling part. His face was tanned and weathered, and while his jacket looked well-cared for, it had clearly seen better days.
"You are thirty-seven, am I correct?" Prosecutor Gavin continued. Mr. Yuki nodded.
"There's something off about him," Athena whispered.
Of course there is. It's Mr. Wright's fault he's here.
"And Mr. Yuki, you claim to know more about the murder?"
"I think I can wager a pretty good guess."
The judge perked up. "That would be very helpful. We are stumpedon this matter."
Don't tell the witnesses that,Apollo thought. He braced himself. Either there was going to be something very wrong with this testimony, or it was going to destroy their case.
"Let's start with why you were called in, all right?" Prosecutor Gavin asked. Mr. Yuki grinned.
"I received a call yesterday afternoon from Maya Fey. She told me a case involving spirits had come up, and that she could use my help."
"Maya Fey, head of the Fey family, correct?" Apollo asked. He already knew, of course. By now, surely everyone in the courtroom did, but he wanted to hear Mr. Yuki's side of the story.
"Yep. We met shortly after she became Master, but I knew her mother before her. The Fey family has always entertained close bonds with the more spiritually-inclined of the world. Maya Fey believed this was my area of expertise."
"Maya Fey is a famous spirit medium. What made her think you were better suited for the job?" Apollo asked. It came out as more of a rebuke than he'd intended, but Mr. Yuki smiled easily.
"The Fey clan only has expertise dealing with spirits of the dead. I'm better with other spirits."
Apollo gritted his teeth. So this was why Prosecutor Gavin had brought him in. "Could you elaborate, please?" he asked, leaning forward.
"Oh," Mr. Yuki said with a glance backwards. Apollo's bracelet tightened.
"Hold it!" he shouted, focusing fully. Mr. Yuki looked puzzled, as did everyone else, because how could 'oh,' possibly be a lie? But there had to be something: his bracelet had never led him astray and Mr. Yuki was looking over his shoulder whenever he mentioned spirits. If he could prove he was lying, they'd get Mrs. Huang her not-guilty verdict and—
"Oh," he said quietly. There was a monster. Behind Mr. Yuki. In court. It was huge, with enormous wings and eyes of two different colors, and Mr. Yuki didn't seem at all threatened by it.
"Apollo?" Athena whispered. "Something wrong?"
"You can't—?" he asked, but Athena gave no indication of being able to see the monster. It bent low over Mr. Yuki's shoulder and whispered something that made Mr. Yuki look straight at him.
"Court is no place to sleep, Herr Forehead," Prosecutor Gavin said, but even he sounded concerned. Sometimes it was easy to forget that the prosecutor also knew of his Perceive ability.
"It's fine," Mr. Yuki said with a nod to Apollo. "The defense is very perceptive. You were asking about spirits?"
Apollo nodded. The monster was still standing behind Mr. Yuki. It nodded when it saw him staring and put a clawed hand on Mr. Yuki's shoulder. With his tightened focus, Apollo could see Mr. Yuki lean into the touch ever so slightly.
"The Fey clan deals exclusively with spirits of the dead. The spirits I work with are very much alive, but not normally visible in our world. Select people can see them, but most people never notice."
"You said something about other worlds?" Athena interrupted. Apollo was grateful. He was still far too busy staring at the monster to come up with any meaningful questions. It didn't make any move, but it was looking around court as if it expected a threat to appear any minute.
"Twelve in total, yes. Some of them have monster spirits. They're usually solid in those worlds."
Prosecutor Gavin smiled. "Mr. Yuki, you have been following the trial up to this point, ja?" he asked. "Am I right to assume that the Sapphire Dragon Ms. Sammons mentioned came from one of those other worlds?"
"Sapphire Dragon…" Mr. Yuki was frowning about something. The monster whispered in his ear, and he nodded. "There are definitely Sapphire Dragons in some of those worlds. I've never seen one on Earth, though. It's kind of an old card."
"How are those spirits and the game of Duel Monsters connected?" Prosecutor Gavin pressed on.
"Good question. I'm not entirely sure myself, but many spirits use the cards to manifest on Earth. They reside within the cards when they need a place to rest or just want to take a look around. They can't fully manifest in this world, you know. They're not tangible."
"Hold it!" Apollo finally tore his eyes away from the monster. "They're not tangible?"
"Not generally, no."
"Apollo," Athena whispered, "there's noise."
Apollo held up a hand. There was a lot that bothered him about Mr. Yuki, but if he played his cards right, this final bit of testimony could make their case.
"Prosecutor Gavin, am I correct when I say that Ms. Sammons claims to have been killed by a dragon?"
Prosecutor Gavin seemed to be taking an inordinate amount of joy from this case. He grinned at Apollo. "You were there yourself, Herr Forehead. I didn't think your memory was that bad."
"And yet, now, Mr. Yuki, an expert on spirits, has stated that these spirits are not tangible on Earth." He pointed. Dramatically. "Meaning that it's impossible for Ms. Sammons to have been killed by a dragon!"
Someone shouted in the courtroom. The monster's head immediately snapped up and it folded a protective wing in front of Mr. Yuki. The original shout was followed by more commotion. Athena put her hands on her temples.
"I wish they wouldn't be so loud," she whispered. Apollo grimaced.
"ORDER!" The judge shouted. "Mr. Justice, please explain what this means."
"It's very simple, your honor. While the defense believes Mr. Yuki's testimony and acknowledges that spirits exist—"
"We do?" Athena whispered.
Either that or this job has finally driven me to hallucinations."—we stand by our original theory. Due to the shock of being murdered, Ms. Sammons misinterpreted the events. She was not killed by Sapphire Dragon or any supernatural creature whatsoever! Our client, Mrs. Huang, has nothing to do with the murder of Cyan Sammons!"
"Ugh, shut up," Athena hissed when the audience broke out in renewed shouts. Mr. Yuki was watching the proceedings with a distinctly amused smile. And Prosecutor Gavin…
Prosecutor Gavin grinned.
"I must thank you, Herr Forehead. Have you considered a career as prosecutor, perhaps?"
Apollo slammed the desk hard enough for the pain to shoot up to his upper arms. He hid his wince by shouting. "What do you mean?"
"Your argument is that Ms. Sammons was in shock and thus hallucinated a dragon killing her. According to Mr. Yuki's testimony, it's impossible for a dragon to be physically present on earth. Therefore, Ms. Sammons' killer must have been human. Ist das richtig?"
"Ja, stimmt," Athena replied.
"Danke.And thank you, Herr Forehead, for so nicely disproving the existence of our mythical dragon. Which, of course, brings us to only one conclusion. I Ms. Sammons' murderer was human, as you and Miss Cykes have just proven to the court, then that only leaves one person with a motive: your client, Mrs. Huang!"
"No!"
The judge nodded. "This might be your most convincing argument in this trial so far, Prosecutor Gavin. The lack of dragon does indeed make for a far more believable story."
"He's been setting us up all this time!" Athena hissed. Apollo clenched his fists. And here I thought he was playing nice.
"While I'm still not convinced that Mrs. Huang is indeed the guilty party, in light of the prosecution's argument I can't declare her innocent either. At this stage, the prosecution and defense both need more arguments to back up their case. We will resume trial tomorrow. Court is dismiss—"
"Actually, can I say something very quickly?"
All heads turned to Mr. Yuki. He was slouching on the stand, one hand under his chin.
"What is it, Mr. Yuki?"
"I think I caused some confusion, sorry for that." He ran a hand through his hair. "The thing is, monster spirits can't make themselves tangible in this world."
Apollo had a sinking feeling. He didn't know how their case could get worse, but he was sure that he was going to find out in just a few seconds.
"There are actually people who can, though," Mr. Yuki continued. "Powerful psychics can manifest monster spirits here on Earth."
More uproar. Apollo put a finger to his forehead. That was… actually not as bad for their case as he'd feared.
"If that's true, that leaves room for another culprit besides Mrs. Huang!" Athena shouted. Apollo nodded vigorously.
"Mr. Yuki, do you keep tabs on any psychics in the United States?" he asked. That would be the fastest way to find any new suspects.
But Mr. Yuki looked down. "Ah, I'm sorry. I've only met a few of them very fleetingly."
And Apollo's bracelet tightened. Athena sucked in a breath.
"Apollo, there's so much noise, I can barely keep track of it," she whispered. "He's lying. He knows far more than he's letting on."
"We've got to get it out of him," Apollo whispered back. Prosecutor Gavin was staring at them, an inscrutable look on his face. Athena straightened up.
"With you permission, Your Honor," she said, "it seems like Mr. Yuki has some things on his mind. I feel like I could provide him with some help."
The monster spread its wings wide. Apollo took an involuntary step back. He was suddenly glad he was the only one able to see it.
"On my mind?" Mr. Yuki repeated. "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about."
"Miss Cykes, do you consider this important at this stage of the trial?" the judge asked. Athena nodded.
"Definitely. If we can clear up the doubts in Mr. Yuki's mind, we might get another step closer to finding Ms. Sammons' true murderer."
"Prosecutor Gavin?"
"No objections, Herr Judge." Prosecutor Gavin leaned forwards. "In fact, I haven't had the honor of seeing Miss Cykes' special brand of psychology in person yet. I quite look forward to a demonstration."
The judge nodded. "All right, Miss Cykes. You may go ahead."
Athena grinned and activated Widget. Mr. Yuki's testimony appeared on the screen.
"Anything look odd to you?" Athena asked. Apollo frowned. Most of his statements didn't seem to elicit any specific emotion, but there was one… Mr. Yuki felt angry about something.
"Here. Mr. Yuki, when you say you only met some psychics very fleetingly, why do you feel angry?"
Mr. Yuki's eyes widened. "You know, I honestly didn't think that'd still come through," he said. "But it's no big deal. I had an altercation with one such psychic duelist years ago. I must've been about Miss Cykes' age at the time."
"What happened?"
"He stole some things that were very precious to some good friends of mine."
"And that person, where is he now?" Apollo asked. A thief could also be a murderer.
"Dead, sorry. He's not the person you're looking for."
Athena updated the information. The noise level had gone down, but it was far from gone.
"Mr. Yuki?" she said. "It's strange. You just told us that this person hurt your friends. And yet, when you say he's dead, you feel sad. Why is that?"
Mr. Yuki looked astonished. "Wow, that thingy of yours is pretty powerful. Ah… I think I was sad at the time, yes… Because I met some pretty great people through that ordeal and we had to say goodbye afterwards. One of them I probably won't ever see again."
It sounded plausible enough, Apollo thought. At least, until he glanced at Athena's screen.
"The noise level's gone up?" he hissed. Athena looked from the screen to Mr. Yuki.
"He's still hiding something. We'll get it out." She tapped the screen. "Mr. Yuki, why else were you sad?"
"I—what?"
The sadness marker was going out of control, and now the anger one had reappeared as well, but the surprise marker, the one that should've been blinking furiously right now….
"Mr. Yuki, you know very well what we're talking about. Something about that encounter made you sad," Apollo pressed. "Something beyond the reasons you've just given us. What is it?"
"You want me to stop them?" the monster asked loudly. Apollo sucked in a breath, but he clenched his fists. Monster or not, he was notstopping here. Mr. Yuki looked distinctly disconcerted for the first time now.
"I… Wow, you kids are really good," he said with a weak smile. "I suppose… I made mistakes. Could've prevented some harm."
"You could've gone up against someone who, by your own words, could summon dragons?" Apollo asked.
"I did go up against him. But I might have been able to do it in a different way."
That didn't make sense. Mr. Yuki didn't look weak, exactly, but he also didn't look like the kind of person who could face any amount of serious damage and survive, let alone a dragon. Unless…
"Gotcha!" Apollo smiled. "I've got it. Mr. Yuki, you are psychic yourself, aren't you? And if I'm right, you are more powerful than the person you faced."
There was a collective gasp in the courtroom. Even Prosecutor Gavin looked briefly surprised, but Apollo didn't focus on him. He was staring, not at Mr. Yuki, but the monster behind him. Its eyes were flashing furiously and its face was twisted in an ugly snarl. It was all the evidence Apollo needed. Judai Yuki was psychic, and for some reason, he'd been hiding it for the court.
"Mr. Justice," Mr. Yuki said. His previous laid-back demeanor disappeared and in sharp contrast to the monster behind him, his eyes turned cold. "Miss Cykes. It's very impressive what you're doing, and for the purposes of this conversation, you are right."
"So you—"
"I can summon monsters." And then, with no further ado, his eyes glowed the same teal-orange of the large monster's eyes, and a tiny creature appeared. It had a brown furry coat, with white, feathery wings and small green claws. It settled on Mr. Yuki's head among the shouts in the courtroom, which should have made him look less intimidating, but didn't. "I do believe this also aptly demonstrates the existence of spirits."
"I…" Prosecutor Gavin looked at a loss for words. So did everyone else.
"It's sufficient, Mr. Yuki," Apollo said. Maybe seeing the huge monster had desensitized him to the shock of seeing a spirit in flesh and blood. The tiny brown monster looked positively adorable in comparison. "But there is one thing I don't quite get. I'm sure you must have picked up our disbelief when it comes to the existence of those monster spirits, and yet you could've proven their existence to us the moment you entered the courtroom. Why did you not do so?"
"I didn't want to cause any panic. It is a rather big revelation."
It sounded reasonable, and yet—
"Lying," Athena whispered. "Again."
Prosecutor Gavin glanced at them and nodded. "Ah, Mr. Yuki, I'm afraid you underestimate the court. We are made of sterner stuff, I assure you."
"I'm glad to hear it," Mr. Yuki said. The tiny monster chirped.
"Mr. Yuki, is that really the case?" Athena asked. "Were you really so concerned with our well-being?"
"You don't think very highly of me, do you?" Mr. Yuki asked with a smile. It didn't reach his eyes. The brown of his irises had taken on a distinct golden shine.
Athena stared at him. "You thinking what I'm thinking, Apollo?" she murmured. Apollo nodded. Maya had said something about him traveling, about not even being sure he was on the continent… It was a hunch, but he was going to run with it.
"Mr. Yuki, where were you the morning of March 6th?"
"Morning… Hold on, time zones." He counted to ten on his fingers. "Ah yes, I was staying with a friend. I stayed at his house until Miss Fey contacted me yesterday."
Athena picked up on his line of questioning. "And this friend, can he testify to your presence?"
Mr. Yuki shrugged. "Sure, I'm pretty sure."
Athena turned to the judge. "Your Honor, the defense requests we confirm the alibi of Mr. Yuki at the time of the murder!"
"That seems a bit hasty, no?" Prosecutor Gavin said. "After all, Mr. Yuki's testimony should be quite helpful for the defense. Did we not just confirm that your client didn't summon any dragons?"
Apollo ignored him. "Mr. Yuki, can we please contact your friend?"
Mr. Yuki folded his arms. "Gonna be a bit hard, I'm afraid. He's probably getting ready for bed by now. Johan's siblings get cranky if you wake him up."
Ready for bed… "Just a minute, Mr. Yuki. Where exactly does your friend live?"
The large monster shook its head, unseen to all save Apollo, but Mr. Yuki shrugged, resignedly amused. "Johan Andersen. He lives in Bergen."
"Is that Bergen county in New Jersey, Mr. Yuki?" Athena asked. Apollo hadn't been even aware of the existence of a Bergen, let alone one in New Jersey. "That must've been quite a hurried trip to get here in time."
"Bergen, New Jersey?" Mr. Yuki had clearly never heard of the place either. "No, I meant Bergen, Norway."
"N-NORWAY?"
The judge banged his gavel. "Mr. Yuki, you mean to tell us you were in Norway until yesterday evening?"
Mr. Yuki tilted his head. "Yesterday afternoon, technically, but yes."
"But that is absolutely impossible!" Athena shouted. "I've made that trip! It takes almost a day to get here from Europe!"
"The Fräulein is correct," Prosecutor Gavin said. "I'm familiar with the journey myself. I must admit to having my doubts that, even with the fastest plane available, you would have arrived here in less than twelve hours. A journey on such short notice would take considerably longer."
"I didn't exactly take a—" Mr. Yuki shrugged. "You can always ask Johan. I'll give you his e-mail address."
Apollo glanced at his bracelet. It wasn't even reacting, the stupid thing, even when it clearly should. Athena was tapping away at Widget, but it seemed to have come down with the same problem. He took a deep breath. Prosecutor Gavin was staring at them.
"We doing this, Apollo?" Athena whispered.
"I think we have no choice. It's the only thing that makes sense," he whispered back. Judai Yuki had to be lying. That trip was physically impossible.
"Mr. Yuki!" he called. "I don't know why you would tell the court such an obvious lie, but it can only lead me to one conclusion."
Mr. Yuki raised his eyebrows. "That being?"
"I find it impossible to believe you were in Norway until last night. In fact, while your friend will undoubtedly corroborate your alibi, it is the defense's opinion you were never in Norway to begin with. You were already in California when Miss Fey contacted you."
"Then the defense's opinion is wrong," said Mr. Yuki. "But go ahead. This will be interesting."
Apollo turned away from him. "Your Honor, Mr. Yuki's testimony has made several things very clear. First of all, the existence of monster spirits that can't ordinarily manifest in this world. Second of all, the existence of a small group of people who can make those spirits manifest. And third of all, the fact that Mr. Yuki is part of this small group of people himself."
"Yes, that is correct," the judge said. "What do you wish to say, Mr. Justice?"
Apollo glanced at Prosecutor Gavin, who had been suspiciously silent throughout his entire argument. He swallowed and continued.
"The evidence against our client is non-existent. She was only arrested because she had a—very flimsy—motive. And yet now we have here a witness who has the means to kill Ms. Sammons in the way she described in her own testimony. Moreover, it is clear he's lying about his alibi for the murder."
"Out with it, Herr Forehead," Prosecutor Gavin said. Apollo took a deep breath.
"Your Honor, the defense accuses Judai Yuki of the murder of Cyan Sammons!"
For reference:
The monster Apollo sees is a Duel Monster called Yubel. The one Judai summons is called Hane Kuriboh.
Comments, questions and concrit welcome as always!