(A:N: Thanks for forgiving me guys! You have no clue how much motivation it brings when you guys review, it brings a small smile to my face, and makes me want to write more! And just so you all know, I do plan on finishing this story, if it's the last thing I do. Alex: Alright then, let's head to REVIEWS!
technicolortardis: Thanks! XD I'm glad I still have your interested then.
Natekleh: Indeed it is. I hope it was worth the wait!
Hypertolkien: Thanks! Sorry though, my lips are sealed.
Elchikaah Haly: Especially if you see one that's getting a sequel at announced at E3. Dishonored 2, yes. XD I hope to clear up a little bit about 'that man' Versteckt was talking about this chapter. Thanks!
Alithia: Can't say now! It would ruin the surprise for people who don't know yet. *glances at one specific reviewer* XD Yep, he remembers all the important stuff.
Me: I'm gonna keep this AN short, to hurry along to the actual content. XD Alex, DISCLAIMERS! Alex: THE real assistant doesn't own Ace Attorney, Capcom, on the other hand, do.)
Profiles
Athena Cykes: Age 18. She's gonna help me during this trial! I just hope she uses Widget too...
Phoenix Wright: Age 34. The defendant on trial today! Let's see if my detective skills can free him.
Gerald 'Green' Tree: Age 68. A debt collector. He was a witness is Daddy's last trial, but now he's the victim of this one.
Real Check: Age 18. The detective for this trial. She seems a bit scattered today.
Prosecutor Versteckt: Age ?. The prosecutor for this trial. How did he know who I really am..?
Michael Prower: Age 21. He's a technician and cameraman for a news cast. He seems to never put down his camera for some reason.
Wendy Oldbag: Age ?. An old lady that works the microphone for a news cast. She has a thing for Mr. Edgeworth.
Judge: Age ?. He's the judge overseeing the trail today. He's pretty clueless, but he makes fair verdicts from what I've heard.
Evidence
Attorney's Badge: This is really Daddy's, but he's letting me use it for now.
Autopsy Report: Victim died at exactly 12:37 AM due to one puncture wound through the chest. There are bruises all over the body, deeper study has shown that the bruises were inflicted after death occurred.
Pictures of the Crime scene and weapon: There are a few pictures of Daddy shoving a man onto a trident and pictures of the trident itself. The trident is rusted, but still sharp. The pictures of the crime scene are supposedly from Michael Prower's camera.
Strange Bloodstain: A bloodstain found around the scene of the crime, it's still fresh somehow though...
Riot Stick: A metal stick used by cops, is this what gave Mr. Tree those wounds?
Strange piece of Cloth: A piece of cloth found in the bushes. It's blue with edges of white around the center.
Bloodstained Hoodie: A gray hoodie, which looks a lot like Daddy's old one, with a giant bloodstain on the front. The bloodstain on it was the victim's, but it's still not clear whether it's Daddy's or not.
Local Courthouse Entrance
February 1-6:28 PM
I hummed as I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms, looking at the ground as I waited for him to come. "... Versteckt." I glanced up, smirking, as I pushed myself off the wall. "It's about time Sir." I bowed slightly, noticing his uneasy frown as I did. I always found that amusing, making this man uncomfortable. He coughed into his fist before speaking. "Mr. Versteckt, we're in public, cut the formalities."
I stood up and shrugged, stretching my arms out to gesture to the world. "This is only a live audience Sir, it would be best to get your part over with." He mumbled as he reached into his coat pocket, taking a small... Device out of it, one I could not recognize. He took my hand quickly, and placed it there before shutting it. "Master did what you asked to do. He ordered my men to look through the camera footage he had of your office, and we found out who took the article." He pointed towards the courthouse, frowning. "It was Ms. Wright, the daughter of Phoenix Wright."
I stood there is shock, grasping the edge of my cape. The magician? The one right under my nose when she was there? When she stole the news article? I could feel my temper rising, gnashing my teeth together as I glared at the man before me. He seemed to cower under it, shifting uncomfortably as he looked down. "A-and." He gulped, tugging on his collar. "Blasted witch!" I glanced around the area, finding the only pedestrian in the area was a stray dog in the parking lot. I knew there was no cameras around.
I quickly turned, and grabbed the man's collar, forcing his pale, green eyes to gaze into mine. "Tell me, how long ago did they find this out?" He gulped again, grabbing my arm and weakly trying to pull it away. "M-my men..." He gagged, shaking his head as I lifted him up slightly to look straight into my eyes. "When?!" His legs shook, swinging. "A-about... Th-three hours... A-ago..." He looked deep into my eyes, his grip on my arm growing weaker. "P-please... L-let me... G-go..." He started to flail, my face etched to look unreadable, almost bored, as he begged. "I... My daughter... I-I... I'm the only... One... S-she has... Left..."
A spark.
That's all it was at first, just a small spark, which quickly grew into a unbearable pain. I held back a scream as I dropped the man, falling to my knees. I used both of my hands to grip my head, not hearing the quick footsteps that faded. Pictures flashed through my mind, telling me a story that wasn't mine. It was of a girl, telling me the story of how her father left her long ago, how sad she was to have no one left to watch over her for awhile. Soon, she did find a family, and then a voice, my voice, rang in my head.
"You're lucky, you know that, right?"
The memory of myself grabbed the girl's hand, smiling.
"You at least got someone, I... Wasn't so lucky..."
Then they stopped.
I stood there, starring at my hands in shock, my mask seemed loose, but was in no danger of falling off. Tears fell down my face, I wasn't sure why, but my heart, my heart hurt. I clenched my hands, grimacing as I held both of my fists to my chest, the tears falling down my face. A voice, a single voice, rang in my head.
(I shouldn't have done that.)
Fear started to settle in, one that wasn't familiar to me. A fear of others being afraid of me. I choked back the sobs as the face of the frightened man flashed through my mind, his pale green eyes wide in fear.
(I shouldn't have done that.)
I ignored the sound of opening doors, followed by a quick gasp. I only covered my face with my hands, shaking slightly.
(I shouldn't have done that.)
The person, a woman, from her calling my name, shook my shoulders. I slowly looked up into the light brown eyes of Hecate.
(Not Hecate, Trucy.)
I wanted to scream, to be enraged at her, to demand what she wanted with that news article. That voice, the voice that spoke that one line to me, stopped, and spoke.
(No, I can't, I don't want anyone else to fear me!)
I only moaned, adjusting my mask with my left hand, shaking. "I... Shouldn't have done that..."
District Courthouse: Defense Lobby #4
February 1-6:19 PM
"Please Athena." Trucy clasped her hands together, ducking her head down as she begged Athena. Phoenix watched on the couch, a slighlty amused grin plastered onto his face. Athena crossed her arms, frowning, as she whispered. "Trucy, tell me again why I should let you go investigate, alone?"
Trucy looked back up, adjusting her loose glasses before speaking again. "Well, it's strange to have an attorney that works alone to have an attorney from an agency work together, isn't it?" Athena tilted her head to the side, flicking her moon earring in thought. "... Well..." Phoenix laughed, surprising the two young women. "I vote we let her go." He leaned forward, smiling gently. "We have to keep her cover, after all. And it might just teach her a thing or two about the courtroom..." Athena glanced at Trucy, her eyes narrowed, before sighing, shaking her head. "Fine, I'll question the Boss while you check the crime scene, I'll also have to check on that bailiff."
Trucy nodded, smiling as she placed her hands to her hips. "Merci! Thanks!" She turned, and ran towards the courtroom doors, waving behind her. She turned, and jumped out of the way, nearly running into the janitor. The man frowned, shaking his head. "What have I told you kids before? I said no running!" Trucy mouthed the word sorry to the man before facing forwards, slowly descending into a walk. She quickly got to the front courtroom doors, took a deep breath, and opened the doors.
She was not expecting the sight before her.
Prosecutor Versteckt was on his knees, shaking as he had his face in his hands. Trucy gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth as she watched the masked man.
(Is he..? Crying..?)
She gulped down her fear of the man, which was small, but still there. She walked down the stairs till she was right next to him. She leaned down, and gasped once again.
(He is crying!)
She grabbed the man's shoulder's and shook him slowly. "Versteckt, Mr. Versteckt! Are you okay? What's wrong?" The man stopped shaking for a few seconds, and slowly turned to face her. His eyes, instead of being a rough hazel, were slightly softer, probably from the tears. He stared into her eyes before moaning, allowing his left hand to fix his mask. "I... Shouldn't have done that..."
His raspy voice seemed to soften slightly, Trucy, though, didn't notice this. "Done what? What did you do?"
After a few minutes of silence, Versteckt stopped shaking, slowly standing up. He stared at the ground as he did. Trucy stood next to him, worry etched onto her usually lighthearted features. Her glasses now in her left hand. "Mr. Versteckt, what happened?"
"... Hmph." He looked up, his softened hazel eyes studying her. "... Haven't I told you..?" He gently smiled, startling the young woman. "You will have to wait to see the climax of the play itself." He quickly turned, and started to walk off. "Come. I think we both were about to investigate the crime scene?"
Trucy stared after the man before pouting, jogging after him. "You still need to tell me what's wrong!"
Looney Park
February 1-6:58 PM
"I'm... Starting to think this was a bad idea..." Versteckt scowled, turning around for his harsh, hazel eyes to bore into her. "And, pray tell, how do you find the setting this frightening?"
(So we're back to play speech? Alright, two can play this game...)
Trucy placed both of her hands to her hips, smirking. "No, I just think someone could close the curtains on our lives if he stay here after sunset Versteckt." Versteckt seemed to blank out, before emitting a sharp laugh. "My my, I would have never guessed you would try a simile Ms. Silk! Although..." He placed his hands in his pockets before making a sharp turn. "You can do better than that..."
Trucy smiled uneasily as she followed the masked man to the crime scene. It looked exactly the same as before, but had a few more cops in the area. Trucy sighed as she ducked under the police tape, pushing her glasses up to keep them from falling. Versteckt turned to the nearest officer, smirking. "You. Where is the detective assigned to this case at?"
The officer quickly pointed towards the fountain, Trucy immediately recognizing the fedora wearing detective in the crowd. The detective seemed to notice the duo also, as she quickly ran over before Versteckt could ask anything else from the cop. "Mr. Versteckt!" Real smiled as she nodded towards the two, taking out her notebook. "What's going on? Why are you two here?"
(Is she really surprised we came here? I don't really see Versteckt coming, but the defense attorneys he faces...)
Versteckt shrugged, placing his hands in his pockets. "I came to oversee the rehearsal, making sure everything is prepared for the live performance tomorrow. Speaking of..." He snapped with his right hand, shutting his eyes. "Are there any new props I should be aware of?" Real nodded, pointing towards the fountain as she pocketed her notebook. "Yep, it's pretty cool too! You need to check this out."
At that moment, the phone in Trucy's pocket vibrated, she took it out, and looked at it as Versteckt walked towards the fountain. She had received a text from Athena.
Yellow Clad Ninja: Hé! Trucy! You know that bailiff we saw earlier? The out of breath one? Turns out, he was chasing a kid around the courtroom. The kid came up to him, claiming he saw a guy with a lot of rings die. The bailiff tried to grab the kid, but the kid got away. You may want to look deeper into that!
A loud crash was heard, Trucy pocketed her phone to look up, and see a cop, his shirt stuck on the trident. His legs swung as he scrambled, trying to unhook his shirt from the trident. Trucy ran over towards the fountain to see Versteckt standing there, watching in what seemed to be mild amusement as the detective tried to unhook the poor cop off the trident. She walked over to him, and sighed. "Don't tell me you find this amusing..." Versteckt scoffed, glaring at her. "Why shouldn't I? Look at this, and tell me this doesn't amuse you in the slightest."
Trucy watched as the detective finally got the cop unhooked, only for her to jump back to not get splashed as the poor man fell in the water. "... Nope." Versteckt flinched, rubbing his eyes before narrowing them at Trucy. "... Liar." Real jumped off the fountain, nearly slipping on the edge of it, before balancing herself. She carefully walked over towards the attorneys before bringing out an object. "Okay, so, we looked in the surrounding area, and found this." She flattened out the object, which was a blue baseball cap. Versteckt shut his eyes, and hummed in thought. "... Did we already have the ladies and gentlemen of the forensics look over this piece of fabric?"
(The who now?)
"Yep!" The detective took a folder out of her trench, handing it to Trucy while Versteckt examined the hat. Trucy opened the folder.
(Traces of the victim's blood were found on the hat. It also has a slight tear on the corner of it.)
*Baseball cap data added to the Court Record*
"Hmm..." Versteckt held up the hat, tapping the bill. "It seems we have a name and address on this cap. I'll have to look into this." He glanced at Trucy when he spoke. "Alone." Trucy scoffed, placing her hands to her hips. "Really now? And why's that?" Versteckt glanced around quickly before gently grabbing Trucy's arm. He dragged her towards the edge of the crime scene, where no one was. "Ms. Wright." His raspy voice was hard to understand as he whispered. "I wouldn't want to be under your father's glare if he found out something happened to you, understand?"
Trucy frowned, pulling her arm away from Versteckt's grasp. "What's with the sudden caring? I would think you wouldn't be intimidated by Daddy at all..." Versteckt shrugged, his mouth etched into a thoughtful frown. "I do not know myself, but I say it has to do with the dramatic climax, which will come soon." He then waved his hand at Trucy as he started to walk off, smirking. "Run along now Ms. Wright. Otherwise, the main antagonist might catch you off guard..." He laughed as he walked off, the laugh shaking Trucy slightly.
Trucy, after she stopped shaking, stood there in silence. "..." She sighed, and shook her head. "... For once, he may be right..." She started to walk towards the entrance of the park, before seeing something in the bushes. She bent down, and picked up what seemed to be a thick stick, coated in a red substance. "..! Wait a minute..."
(Is this?)
She smelled the stick, and immediately dropped it in disgust. "It is blood!" She glanced around the area before digging into her bag, taking out a large, plastic bag. She placed the stick into the plastic bag before placing it into her bag. "I'll have to ask for an analysis later... For now though, I should head back home..."
*Blood coated stick added to court record*
(A:N:Sorry for not answering PMs or this chapter's possibly bad quality. It's just... Life has been tough these past couple of days. Just, all this bad stuff has been happening, and to help move life along, I wrote. I'll try to respond to PMs today if I can. Sorry if I don't though. R&R, and remember, your flamed warm my family...)