Alright, the first chapter was a bit of a prologue. This begins to get into the main part of the story, and I hope you all enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own the ace attorney series or any of its characters, nor am I profiting from this work.

"Are you ready, Justice?"

"Yes…Mr. Edgeworth."

Apollo sat at his desk as the older prosecutor stood before him, very seriously studying the case files. They had become sort of an odd pairing – a young defense attorney and a veteran prosecutor working tirelessly on a very strange case. Both of the men knew the young woman was innocent, and the prosecutor's office was using the trial to try and expose a true killer in the courtroom. A strange tactic, but Apollo had agreed to assist if it would help find the truth.

"Edgeworth, let me go through this with you to prepare," Apollo said quickly, shuffling his papers. "The elderly Mr. Ty Reed was murdered in his room two nights ago. He was poisoned, and the suspect is his medical caregiver, Alice Chin."

"However, we found evidence of Mr. Reed's previous involvement with a certain group we've been investigating," Edgeworth continued. "He was a dying man, and he had recently arranged to talk to police about his involvement as a deathbed confession."

"But he was poisoned before he could make that happen," Apollo finished, closing his file. Edgeworth simply nodded at the young man, who seemed to be seriously preoccupied with something.

"Justice, the prosecutor's office gave this case to Payne because they're relying on you for the truth. There are two options. One is that Miss Chin was framed to cover up this crime syndicate's involvement. The other is that she DID commit the crime because she is connected to the crime syndicate," Edgeworth said simply.

"But I don't think she would be proclaiming her innocence this much if she was part of the syndicate. It doesn't make sense."

Edgeworth smirked.

"Of course, Payne knows nothing about the syndicate, and I'm sure he has an alternate motive. Tread carefully...you have no evidence supporting the syndicate theory at all, even if we logically know it's true."

"I know. If Alice Chin is innocent, then there must be a flaw in Payne's logic…" Apollo said a little too forcefully. Edgeworth winced.

"Are you…always this loud?" Edgeworth muttered, still cringing. Apollo's face fell as Kristoph's voice lingered in the back of his mind. Edgeworth raised his eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

"No…sorry. Anyway, how's Miss Faraday doing?" Apollo muttered sheepishly, hastily changing the subject. Edgeworth quickly shifted back to business.

"She's infiltrated the syndicate successfully. She'll provide information to us as needed."

"Are you worried?" Apollo asked. Edgeworth shifted uncomfortably.

"She is a very well-trained undercover officer. This is her job, and she's good at it."

"You're worried about her…"

"No, I'm just…"

"You can't lie to me. You grit your teeth slightly when you lie."

"She'll be fine," Edgeworth muttered. It didn't matter how old Kay got; he would always worry about her like Wright would worry about Maya.

"Hey, Mr. Edgeworth? Why did you ask me to work on this case and not Mr. Wright?"

"Wright is still working on implementing the jurist system, and that's almost a full-time job. He also mentioned your ability, and I thought it would come in handy…"

"Edgeworth…you, me, Kay, Agent Lang, Gumshoe…we're going to bring this syndicate to its knees."

"Well spoken, Justice. Now, good luck at the trial tomorrow."

Edgeworth bowed before quickly exiting the room. After he left, Apollo sighed. He pulled out the court record and continued to stare at the autopsy report.

The medicine that killed Ty Reed was laced with atroquinine.

Mr. Gavin…you…

()()()()()

"Daddy, why is Polly being so secretive?"

"Trucy, it's Apollo's turn to have a secret mission."

"Do you know what it is, Daddy?"

"Not really, Truce. Just that he's helping Edgeworth."

"Why didn't he tell me about the trial tomorrow? Why doesn't he want me to help?" Trucy asked angrily.

Phoenix hugged his clearly worried daughter. Phoenix had heard that Kristoph had broken out of prison, and Apollo had pretty much locked himself in his office, not even bothering to go home. He hoped the young attorney wouldn't do anything stupid, but this was far from a guarantee. Between his work on the jurist system, his job at the club, and his overdue return to law school, he hadn't really had time to notice the young attorney's reaction. As he ran his fingers through his daughter's hair, he silently prayed that Apollo would persevere.

()()()()()

Kristoph paced outside the courthouse, looking at his watch. The trial for the unfortunate woman was about to start, and Kristoph wondered how much Apollo really knew. Although Kristoph had spent a long time in solitary, he had his ways of getting information. One was a certain contact he had within a crime syndicate that specialized in selling drugs and bioweapons. His contact had provided him with access to atroquinine many times over the years.

Kristoph didn't trust his contact in the slightest. He had read in the paper about the elderly man's murder, and it wasn't hard for him to figure out that he had killed him. Why did Justice have to take this case? His contact was more dangerous than Kristoph had ever been, and Kristoph couldn't ignore the pang of certain dread in the back of his mind.

Kristoph wasn't exactly sure why he felt the need to protect him. No…he knew why. Despite everything that had happened, Apollo was an important part of his life. And he knew he'd go crazy if he learned of his former student's death from a sketchy contact or a newspaper. And besides…escaping from jail provided the ultimate opportunity for revenge on a certain veteran attorney.

He passed by his reflection in a mirror and sighed. His beautiful golden locks had been dyed black, and his hair was tucked under a hat. He couldn't bear to cut his hair – it was just too pretty. Dying it already caused nearly severe trauma.

Sir…have you ever considered cutting your hair?

No.

You don't need to get offended…

Would you cut off your spikes?

Well…dammit, you've got a point…

Did he really miss those times that much? Kristoph shrugged as he made his way into the gallery of Courtroom Number Two.

()()()()

"And that's why Miss Chin had to kill the victim. Her name was written on the napkin! With his dying breath, Mr. Reed identified…" Payne's voice droned on for ages before Apollo finally snapped.

"OBJECTION! How many times has the victim ACTUALLY written the name of the real killer?"

"Objection overruled. Mr. Justice, anything in this universe must have blatantly fake 'definitive' evidence. Otherwise the world will end."

Apollo sighed at the judge's words as Payne smirked.

"Mr. Justice. It's just like every crime scene has to have a stepladder," Payne said, grinning.

"Or a witness has to be the real killer?" Apollo asked sarcastically.

"Urk…"

The judge banged his gavel, ceasing the chatter.

"Ahem…now please bring out your decisive witness, Mr. Payne."

Kristoph sighed as he watched the trial progress. He was surprised that Trucy was nowhere to be found. From what Kristoph heard, Apollo was never without his aide, and the thought piqued Kristoph's curiosity. Kristoph had one more pressing reason to escape from prison – to inflict as much pain on Phoenix Wright as he could muster. But until then, he'd settle for making sure Apollo didn't get himself hurt.

As expected, Apollo had been sharp up to this point. He had pointed out that the elderly victim had almost no motor skills to be able to write any sort of note, and that Alice Chin had no possible access to atroquinine. Kristoph smiled, knowing that he had helped create confident man standing at the defense's bench. Even in his confinement, Kristoph had heard just how tenacious and skillful Apollo had become and how it had become quite difficult to enlist his services due to the sheer number of requests. Kristoph watched as Apollo's eyes burned into the witness stand with apprehension.

The decisive witness was indeed Kristoph's contact, Yuri Overhead. He looked ordinary and average in almost every way – medium build, brown hair, average height, and looked no more intimidating than Trucy; however, Kristoph knew that beneath the calm demeanor was a man with no morals and no regard for anyone other than himself.

Apollo seemed to be quite aware of the danger in front of him as he stared the witness down. Edgeworth had warned him about the consequences of bringing up the syndicate too early. He swallowed and slowly listened to what the man had to say.

"I noticed the defendant enter the victim's room at ten. She left the room five minutes later. No one else entered the room at that time."

It was concise and clear, and Apollo knew that it would certainly look very bad for his client. He stared hard at the defendant as he spoke.

No one else. That's impossible. No…one...wait.

Apollo smirked as his eyes were drawn to the man's nose. It was very slight, but he could see his nostrils flare.

"Gotcha."

"Pardon?"

"Mr. Overhead. You can't hide your nervous habit."

"What are you playing at?"

"Your nostrils."

"OBJECTION! This is ridiculous!" Payne shrieked, but the judge held up his hand.

"Overruled. Let Mr. Justice finish."

"Yes…let Justice finish. Any man willing to yell 'gotcha' deserves to be heard," Yuri said, smirking.

"Well…no one else entered during that time? I bet that's a lie. Your flaring nostrils give you away."

"So…you've got me. My nostrils flare when I'm nervous. Now, is anyone not nervous when they testify? I'm not much of a public speaker."

Apollo cursed. He thought he had him. He had to try a different approach.

"I'm not necessarily accusing you of anything, so relax. I'm just thinking…were you staring at the door the entire time? You were visiting another patient…someone could have easily slipped in while you were distracted by your own duties. That's why you're nervous."

"You're a smart man, Mr. Justice. I was doing my job, after all."

From the gallery, Kristoph grinned. Justice had won.

"So…you work at the clinic?" Apollo asked, trying to hide his own sly smile.

"Hm?"

"Your job. Meaning…you were working there?"

"Er…"

"Because you're not on the employee list I got this morning."

"No…I meant my visiting duties…as a friend."

"Oh? Who were you visiting?"

"Objection! This is…unjust…!" Payne began. The judge interrupted him.

"Overruled. He's not badgering. You're the one who brought him as a witness."

"It's okay your honor. Because the only other room on that floor was vacant…" Apollo said quietly. "So…why were you on the top floor? Because you weren't working there and you weren't visiting another patient!" Apollo yelled dramatically, his finger outstretched. After a pause for effect, he took a sip of water to hydrate his chords of steel.

Yuri Overhead's nostrils were pulsating. He began to laugh.

"Mr. Justice…you have made a grave error. At least…for you…"

"I've got you on perjury…your testimony is worthless. And I believe that Payne has no other witnesses. Any judge would find her innocent at this point."

"You don't understand."

Kristoph recognized the man's glint, and he suddenly had the most horrible feeling in the world.

Apollo knew it too. He began to struggle for air.

"You shouldn't yell so much."

He felt his throat constrict, and he struggled to stay on his feet.

"You'll wear yourself out."

Apollo collapsed onto the ground, shaking dramatically before losing consciousness.

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