Thank you very much for reviewing guys! I'm still able to continue this because of you! Here's the next chapter, sorry it's a little late, and the next one might come a little late too. :(
-drops of jelly
Standard Disclaimer Applies
Fourth Turnabout
Criminal Affairs Department
June 5 11:00 pm
"… There is still no news about Herr Wright, Herr Edgeworth or Fraulein von Karma?" Prosecutor Gavin stepped in front of Detective Ema Skye's table with a cup of mocha espresso.
"No… Honestly… I have a bad feeling about this… Mr. Edgeworth hadn't sent a message in hours! I tried to trace his phone by GPS but his position didn't change. He ordered me to not pursue him, and even asked me to trust in him… So I thought I'd give him until morning, and I'll just be on standby." She reported to him, while doing her work on the computer.
"You came from Herr Edgeworth's house right? How are Herr Forehead and the little Fraulein doing?" he sipped some of his own coffee.
"Well, Trucy's starting to talk again, little by little. I'm not worried if Apollo's with her." Ema smiled softly.
"Then, how about you? You're barely able to hold yourself together. Today's taken a lot of energy out of you- searching around LA, babysitting two kids, carrying out 'scientific investigations', assisting Herr Edgeworth… the list goes on Fraulein Skye." He rolled his eyes from his cup towards her.
"Today's taken a lot of energy from everyone… What I'm doing is nothing compared to Mr. Wright or Mr. Edgeworth… I really do want to be able to help more… I feel so discouraged of myself…" she whined.
"Don't be. You're doing a good job." He cheered her up with a bag of snackoos.
"No… I…"
"You don't need to do any more." His face grew serious.
"… Alright then…" she accepted the bag and popped it open.
Miles Edgeworth's House
June 5 11:00 pm
"Trucy… What are we going to do if…" Apollo sat next to her on the bed.
She looked at him with such sad eyes.
"Nothing. Don't think about it. Mr. Wright will be back soon for sure." He gave her a comforting smile.
"Daddy's always got a trick up his sleeve… He surprises me a lot, like a real magician. I'll wait for him… No matter how painful it is…" Trucy's fists trembled, settled atop her legs covered by the white sheets of the bed.
*beep beep beep*
"Ah, sorry. Go to sleep now Trucy. I'll just be outside." Apollo stood up after placing the covers on top of her body.
He went out of the room to open a text message he had just received.
I found the mastermind, and now he's gone, but don't tell anyone.
"AAAAGGGGHHHH!" Apollo screamed at Phoenix Wright's newest message.
"Polly, what's wrong?!" Trucy leaped off her bed and opened the door to see what was going on.
"OHH… uh, I was trying out my new chords of steel training technique… I missed a day of training." He lied sheepishly.
"… Keep it down." She giggled and closed the door.
Apollo had no idea what was going on anymore. What mastermind? Yes, he was kidnapped, but why a mastermind?
Mr. Wright, what's going on? What mastermind? Where are you now? I'll come over with Detective Gumshoe! Even Mr. Edgeworth and Ms. von Karma didn't return until now. What's going on?
He sent that one message. He waited for a long time, he didn't get a reply anymore.
Apollo couldn't sit around there anymore, but he couldn't leave Trucy either. As of now, he knew these facts:
Mr. Wright had been kidnapped and is still missing.
Mr. Edgeworth and Ms. von Karma have been missing since yesterday and haven't heard any news about any of them.
Ema Skye was with them earlier in the day but was more touchy and suspicious than usual.
The text message he received was no ordinary one, and he needed to dig in deeper.
He made a call to Prosecutor Gavin, who he knew could do something about the current situation.
"Herr Forehead, rare for you to call. Is there something wrong?" Klavier responded calmly, but sternly.
"It's really important, please ask Ema to help me."
"Firstly, why not ask her yourself?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"She definitely won't listen to me."
"Secondly, you think she would let me ask her a personal favor so casually?" he laughed.
"Please… It's Mr. Wright… And only I can do this." His voice grew serious.
"………"
"What should I do then, Herr Forehead?"
"You're honestly the last person I would ask, but you're honestly also the only person I can ask for now. Please watch over Trucy, and I need to see Ema."
"………"
"I'll be there with Fraulein Skye in fifteen minutes."
"Thank you." He sighed with relief after hanging up.
O-o-O
Ema was still working on the computer, transferring the data she had found out, sealing it off in her exclusive file manager on the LA Police case archives. She was waiting for the progress bar to fill up.
Then, suddenly, Prosecutor Gavin pulled her by the wrist and briskly walked through the office, dragging her.
"H—h-hey!! Klavier!! What's the deal? Let me go!" she cried.
"Let's go on a trip, Fraulein Skye." He naughtily smirked at her.
"WHAT?! I have no time for all this nonsense! You know how busy we all are don't you? We can't tolerate this foolishly foolish nonsense! And great, now I'm starting to talk like Ms. von Karma who I terribly need to get in touch with… and!..." she kept bickering at him frustratingly as he took them down the building and got her on his 'hog', which she called his 'deathride'.
Apparently she had been too busy whining that she didn't know she was already placing on her helmet.
She was brought back down to earth when she felt the wind suddenly whipping past her hair and made her scream. Klavier just chuckled to himself then.
O-o-O
Klavier helped Ema down the hog and they walked up to the front door together.
Apollo opened the door when they were about to press the doorbell. Apparently, he had been waiting in the living room, looking through the big, double-story windows.
"Thanks for coming here." Apollo greeted them both and looked at Klavier after.
"I'll go see the Little Fraulein." He made his way up the stairs.
"What's going on?..." Ema glared at Apollo.
"We need to talk." Apollo showed a serious face.
"We have nothing to talk about now." Ema averted her gaze.
"I need information about this case."
"It's top secret, junior. It's better if you don't know too." She started to munch on another bag of snackoos.
Where does she pack all those bags? He thought, shaking his head.
"Listen, it's really important. I know you've already gotten in touch with Mr. Wright."
Ema gasped, surprised as to why Mr. Wright chose to involve Apollo in this case too.
It would have been better to keep him safe in the dark.
"H-how can you say that… How would you know?" she munched on her snackoos faster.
*vibrate*
I knew it… I wasn't just making assumptions… My bracelet's reacting. He thought, then gave it a touch.
"Your nervous habit has given you away Ms. Skye. You twitched on the word 'know'." He began to perceive the truth, as he usually does.
"Insane… What proof do you have that I'm unsure of what I have been saying?" she looked more serious.
He opened his inbox and showed a recent notification by Mr. Wright, but he didn't open the content of the message.
Take that!
"………..!" she stared at the phone screen for quite some time.
"I can't show the contents to you though. I'm sorry. I was instructed not to, and it's really important. Only I can do this for Mr. Wright now, after Mr. Edgeworth and Ms. von Karma have vanished." He said.
"Do what?" Ema asked.
"… Find the truth." His eyes glowed with confidence, but not exactly excitement either.
"… Alright then." She sighed.
They entered the office in Miles Edgeworth's house. Ema accessed the Police Archives and got hold of the data she got so far.
She converted Phoenix's mail into a webpage and recorded some additional data into it.
"He was sent to an area confirmed to be an old warehouse by Mr. Edgeworth. Mr. Edgeworth currently went to pursue Mr. Wright by going to this location by himself. He chose not to bring escorts or police since he wouldn't be able to ensure Mr. Wright's safety." Ema started.
"So, one lead to his would be these pictures Mr. Wright took?" Apollo asked.
"Yes." She replied.
"Wait a second…" Apollo scrolled down the page to read Phoenix Wright's text message to Mr. Edgeworth, the one sent most recently:
From where I am, she is in the room adjacent to mine to the right. As to how I was taken here, they tied me up and covered my eyes, but I suspect that they took me to this room by a secret passageway and elevator. As to the secret passageway, I can only think of one place considering all of the observations I made- The Borscht Bowl Club. The memo in my blazer, my suspicions were right all along.
"Memo… blazer… It all makes sense now!" Apollo stood up.
"Apollo! I'm not allowing you to go after the kidnappers, you hear me?" Ema screamed at him.
"Who says I am?" he smirked confidently.
"What?"
"Listen, I've got an idea. How many professional murder incidents have there been in total?" he asked.
"There were five incidents in total. The mastermind started his killing spree just this month… Apollo, you're convinced that there is definitely a connection with Mr. Wright's abduction and the serial murders?" Ema looked at him seriously.
"If I piece together the stories he'd been telling me recently about those doctors, and how he acted weirdly all too sudden, remembering the events that might have taken place on his way back to the offices… It all makes sense." Apollo stated.
"Mr. Wright, on his way home passed the Borscht Bowl Club as usual. There, he must have discovered something he didn't want to happen- maybe a plan by a serial killer to take Mr. Edgeworth as his next target. This is why he decided to go to Mr. Edgeworth's house."
"We stubbornly had to go with Mr. Wright after he made signals for Trucy and me to stay in the offices." He continued.
"Why did you both disobey Mr. Wright?" Ema asked.
"Ah…..! I remember it now… This fact that I must have locked deep inside my heart and tried hard to forget…" he answered.
"What was it?"
"Trucy and I felt it. Mr. Wright was hiding something, and not just anything. Trucy badly wanted to pretend like nothing was happening and just watch over Mr. Wright. I couldn't deny the vibrations ringing from my bracelet either, so I went off with Trucy."
"Vibrations?... Bracelet? What do you mean?" she asked.
"…" he blushed a little, bashful that he might have sounded idiotic to her, a scientist who didn't really believe in those things.
"Never mind.. Carry on." She brushed that topic away, wanting to hear the rest.
"At the end, Mr. Wright found us and we could tell he was in panic. He tried to cover it up by gently pushing us into the bushes in a hurry telling us it was to surprise Mr. Edgeworth. In the next ten seconds, the abductors came and their struggle began."
He paused, grief starting to collect in his expression.
"It was happening all too fast… The shock we experienced, because of that… I couldn't remember everything quite clearly." He ended.
"So… You connected this serial murder case with Mr. Wright's abduction by noticing his actions, and figuring out the route he'd most likely take back to the offices?" Ema smiled.
"I guess you can say that." He replied.
"So, what are you planning to do now, asking me about this serial killing?"
"I'm going to find clues in all the crime scenes. Maybe I can find something that will lead to Mr. Wright's current location and the identity of the killer." Apollo explained.
"No sensible clues were found on the scene… We're desperate for evidence…" Ema paused, looking grim.
Apollo paused.
"It reminds me of another serial killing years back…" tears started to build up in her eyes.
"Whoa! Whoa! I'm so sorry Ema!" Apollo got nervous.
"Herr Forehead… What's going on? Can't you be any lower than this?" Klavier Gavin entered the office.
"I swear I didn't do anything wrong!" he cried.
"What are you talking about, you glimmerous fop?!" she shot back at him.
"Huh?" Klavier looked confused.
"You have to save Mr. Wright… and Mr. Edgeworth… I'll do what it takes to help you…" Ema wiped the tears off her eyes.
"Ema…" Apollo gently stared at her.
"…Then I would have repaid my debt… No… I'd have done something to repay them for that time…" she smiled whole-heartedly.
"Hmph… Alright then it's all settled." Klavier laughed softly.
"Great! Let's keep in touch, Ema, Prosecutor Gavin!" Apollo prepared to dash out the door, when Klavier grabbed a hold of his collar.
"Nein, Herr Forehead, you musn't rashly dash out there now." He said.
"That's right! It's ten to twelve AM! Hit the sack. Start your investigation tomorrow." Ema ordered him.
"B-b-but!" he objected.
"We'll all be here together, seems like it. I'm going to assist Fraulein Skye in trying to get in touch with the three as well. You don't have to rush things for now. It'll be more dangerous, and you can't just suddenly leave the little Fraulein." Klavier spoke objectively.
"Trucy…" Apollo remembered and decided to follow Klavier and Ema's decision.
"Thanks, guys. I'll start tomorrow." Apollo smiled.
He went out of the office, and closed the door.
"… Why didn't you both turn on the lights anyway, fraulein?" Klavier turned to Ema who was re-reading the pages of the archives.
Klavier discovered the room to be dark or dimly lit- light was only provided by that single computer turned on by Ema, and the moonlight that streamed through the huge window in the room.
"Oh… I guess I forgot. *munch*" she continued to eat her snackoos.
"Haha, funny though. It's only just the two of us now… in this dark room." He approached her desk, placed his hand on the table and gave her a flashy smirk.
*snackooed*
to be continued…
Hahaha! A little diversion for now guys, it's filling the gap slowly. I hope you liked it! I'd love it if you'd drop a review. ^_^
-drops of jelly