Sonic the Hedgehog: Attorney of Law

by thedraconicwerewolf

Sonic is a defense attorney with a law degree fresh out of high school thanks to his advanced studies in the ways of the judicial system. He's now able to defend others from various allegations. Will his training be enough to help him prove his clients' innocence? And what will happen when a ghost of his past that made him walk the path of law comes around once again?

3. Under the Midnight Moon Pt 1

Hello everybody! Here is the start of the second case for the rookie attorney Sonic Hedgehog. What kind of problems is he going to face in the second case of his career? You'll just have to read on to figure things out.

Sorry to those who thought the last case kind of had an "interesting" end to it. I kind of dug my own grave by not creating a lot of evidence to really prove anything. And the first case is supposed to be the easiest. At least I managed to solve it by creating questions that created circumstantial evidence that then led to the key question that proved the guy's guilt. I'll give the guys who write those Phoenix Wright games a lot of credit. It must take a lot to make evidence that works with the testimony while not contradicting themselves unless they're specified to do so.

Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy the introduction to the second case. Once again, any and all new evidence and profiles will be posted at the end of the story. Any evidence that carries on from the previous chapter will be posted up here, although there won't be any this chapter because this is the beginning of the second case.

Hope you all enjoy this new chapter. Don't forget to leave a review when you're done reading! Until the next update everybody!

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Chapter 3: Under the Midnight Moon Pt. 1

"Hello?" a person's voice was heard saying in a greeting tone through a cell phone they had against their ear. It was kind of hard to tell whether the owner was a man or a woman because of the voice being heavily muffled that it sounded more like a terribly soft whisper.

"I have another job for you," the other person on the other end said abruptly, this one also near impossible to clearly discern. "I need you to take care of a little problem for me, a problem that could prove problematic for us if it isn't taken care of immediately."

"Oh, you remember that I like these kinds of missions where everything depends on making only the right moves. I'm honestly quite flattered. So what is it that you want me to do? You want me to steal some important documents from big-name companies, or do you want me to make sure some dolt's tracks are covered up so the police don't end up sniffing out what we're doing?"

"Actually, it's something that's a lot more serious. I want you to perform an erasure for me. It seems that one of our 'friends' is starting to become uncooperative. I find it best that we take care f him now before he turns resistant."

"Oh, an erasure mission. It's been a while since you've assigned me with something as thrilling and daring as this."

"That's because there hasn't been any need for me to put you on one in the longest of times. You did at least follow my directions and stole the cell phone you're using from that person in order to make this call, did you?"

"You know that I always listen and follow your instructions all the way to a T, sir. Just tell me who it is that you want to have killed, and I'll make sure our designated scapegoat is the one who takes the blame for it and that this number is erased from its memory."

"Then listen carefully, because I'm only going to give you these instructions once. I don't want a repeat with what happened to Naeco two weeks ago, so don't make any mistakes whatsoever. I want you to take out..."

The next day...

It had been at least two weeks since Sonic went on and actually won the first case of his professional career as a defense attorney. Even if it were not his first case, he still would have done anything within his legal right to try and get his client acquitted on the charges of murder because it just so happened to be his best friend that was accused. Miles Prower, better known by his nickname as Tails, happened to have been caught up in a rather well-planned murder by the actual murderer now behind bars. Why he had chosen the young twelve-year-old fox, nobody really knew. What was made clear, however, was that he was the true murderer and attempted to cover up his tracks by placing the blame on another.

With that fiasco now put behind the two of them, the hedgehog and fox went back to living their normal lives. For Sonic, that meant working at the office of his current employer, Dr. Ivo Robotnik of the Robotnik Law Firm. While he was only seventeen, the attorney's guild, a group of specially chosen people elected by the people to watch over and uphold the rules of attorneys, deemed him worthy of wearing an attorney's badge. The reason for that was because he scored the highest in a test given to choice students given the chance to participate in one of their government-funded programs that had them study law throughout their high school career and treat it as working at a college law major. Needless to say, this was exactly what the hedgehog had done in order to bring him to where he was now, graduated from high school one year early and already out in the work world with a solid job under his belt.

Tails, on the other hand, did not have any kind of job whatsoever. This was perfectly understandable since he was at least four years off before even having a chance to land a part-time job. Ironically, this did not mean that he was busy going to school getting a well-deserved education. This was so because the school district had acknowledged him to have been both physically and mentally prepared to go on to college. It was through a barrage of tests that stranded from his supposed sixth grade status all the way to twelfth grade honors and AP level tests that they decided his IQ was more than high enough to skip all upcoming grades. This also meant that he could go to college if he so wished to, but he did not feel much of a need to go yet since he knew that he would be bullied beyond belief because of both his two tails and his size. Despite not going to school, he still made it a point to always crack open some kind of educational book and read through it so as to not lose his academic edge when the time came that he felt ready to pursue a higher education.

Since he was not going to school and did not really have much to do in terms of hanging out in the world outside his home, he usually stayed at Sonic's place that he had called home for the past few months. It was not that he was an antisocial person; it was just that he did not have many friends because of people jealous of his genius and his two tails.

He used to live with his parents, but something unexpected had happened to them. They had both contracted a deadly disease during a business trip from abroad. He was staying at Sonic's place at the time. They never made it back home. Since then, he had lived with the teen that he had considered to be his older brother. Thankfully, the courts deemed the teen as capable enough in taking care of the young fox mainly because of the fact that he had a steady job with an equally steady source of income despite the fact that he himself was also an orphan nearing the end of his stay in the legal adoption system. He had been arguing that he could take care of the little guy once he got his job, but he had a real hard time fighting to postpone the adoption papers. Needless to say, he managed to use his knowledge about the law to his advantage and stalled the courts long enough for things to end in his favor.

Both guys were right now inside the Robotnik Law Firm office, one working on some papers regarding the first case he worked on while the other was busy sweeping the carpet for any big pieces before vacuuming it. It was clear that they were both busy, but this did not impede them from holding up a friendly conversation to make their rather mundane tasks more interesting.

"So when is it that you think you're going to be going to some college Tails?" Sonic asked as his eyes never left the paper in his hands. "I've been getting a lot of junk mail from all these elite colleges who want to have your brilliant mind to call their very own. If I didn't know any better, I'd be thinking that they're harassing me here."

"I thought I told you already that I'm not planning on considering any colleges until I turn sixteen," Tails responded with a small sigh as he continued to sweep the carpet. "I'm waiting until I'm a little bit older so that there'd be less of a chance of me getting jumped by those crazy guys. Call me paranoid, but I think my small size makes me a good target for bullies. Combine that with the fact that I have two tails on me, and I'm going to be a constant moving target."

"Oh, not everybody's that bad, you know?" the cobalt hedgehog responded in a way that an older brother would to his younger brother as he finished reading the paper and placed it on top of his wooden desk. "There are quite a good amount of good guys up there actually working on their college work. They're too busy worrying about that to go searching the entire campus for you just to torture you."

"I know, but I'd still rather wait until I'm at least sixteen before I go," the orange furred fox stated with a shrug of his shoulders as he stopped sweeping momentarily so that he could move a brown coffee table out of the way. "I prefer having an added piece of mind and knowing that there's less risk of me getting jumped. And while we're on this topic, why aren't you thinking about going to a college to put more knowledge into your head?"

"And let my brain rot away by learning things that I'll most likely not use during my entire lifespan? I thought you already had a good feel that I hate going to school. I managed to convince my parents to let me join that government-funded class when I started as a freshman in high school. They said that they would treat the program as a college law major and give it to us if we can adequately pass the classes they throw at us along with our normal high school classes. I've always been intrigued at what the law was, and that was as good a chance as any to learn more about it while skipping out of college at the same time."

"Oh, you always try to find the easy way out when it comes to studying. You never know when you might need to learn something else in case you end up losing this job. You know that nothing is ever absolute in this world."

"Oh, cut with the philosophical talk, would you? So what if I'm taking a huge gamble with only having this skill as a profession? At least it's something to look forward to in terms of what tomorrow might have for me."

"And you're here telling me about sounding philosophical," Tails responded with a chuckle as he readied the vacuum standing next to the wall by connecting the cable to a nearby outlet.

"My, it sounds like you two are having a lot of fun in here today," the sound of a man suddenly said, slightly startling the two from their conversation. They both simultaneously turned their heads towards the source of the voice and saw that it was Dr. Robotnik himself speaking to them.

"Oh, hello sir," Sonic greeted the man with a smile as he momentarily stopped what he was doing. "We weren't expecting you to be back for at least another hour."

"The meeting got cut short for some odd reason," the man simply responded without taking his jacket off as he walked straight across the room. "It wasn't as if it were eventful anyhow. So how are things with you two over here?"

"We're both getting as much work done as we can," the fox stated happily as he held off on starting up the vacuum so as to not drown out their voices. "I was just about to go ahead and start vacuuming the office."

"Oh, you don't need to go and do that Tails," Dr. Robotnik said with a smile as he went to a file cabinet and opened it up to look at the files that were resting in there. "This office hasn't been this clean even before I first bought this place years ago. I understand the circumstances surrounding your educational status, but surely you have other things that you could be doing besides hanging around this ratty old place and picking up after us."

"I honestly don't mind it at all. I don't really like hanging around at home all day with nothing to do while Sonic is here doing whatever work he's supposed to be doing here. If I can, I'd like to help out in any way I can here, even if it's just doing something as bland as cleaning up this office."

"Trust me on this sir; once Tails has something planted in his mind, the chances of anybody changing his mind are slim to none," the cobalt hedgehog said with a small sigh as he wrote something on the paper he was reading before putting it down and getting up from the chair to stretch a bit. "He can be a bit stubborn like that."

"Well, if this is truly what he wants to do, then who am I to go and take away his right to do so?" the man responded with a warm smile as he took out a single folder and closed the drawer. "Just so we're clear on this, however, I can't necessarily pay you for the work you're conducting here no matter how good it might be."

"Oh, that's alright. I wasn't even thinking about earning money when I started cleaning here. I prefer to think of this as getting some good work experience and ethics rather than a chance to earn some spending money. After all, how is one supposed to earn good money if they don't even have any kind or work experience under their belt?"

"Now that's definitely as good of an attitude if I ever heard of one," the man replied happily before moving back towards the office exit while skimming the contents of the folder. "I'm sorry to have to go so suddenly after just arriving, but I merely came here to get a file on a certain case. It seems as though the detectives are becoming interested in it again and want me to bring in whatever I have concerning it."

"Are you sure you don't want to at least have something to drink before you go?" the young fox asked. "I think it'd be good if you hydrated yourself a bit."

"I thank you for the concern Tails, but I'll be more than fine. I probably won't be back here after this, so please lock up when you leave. Also, if you happen to get someone who needs a defense attorney, don't hesitate to go and offer your services to them. If they're stubborn, just tell them that you're my understudy learning everything there is to know about the trade from me. I'm sure they'd understand."

"Provided that I don't end up getting some high-strung stubborn client on the phone that is," the teenaged defense attorney responded with slight sarcasm in his words. "And don't worry about the office; I'll make sure to lock everything up when we're done."

"Good, then I'll see you both tomorrow," he said before he opened the door once again and left through it.

"And there he goes again," Sonic said with a sigh as he moved around the desk and headed off towards the bathroom. The basic layout of the office was almost akin to that of a standard single person apartment, except that what would have been a bedroom was converted into a second office and the coat closet made into a second bathroom made especially for women. He was currently heading for the one designated for men. "How could he have possibly run a good business always not being in his office?"

"I think he used to conduct all of those important business meetings in here before he decided to give you a job here," Tails speculated as he proceeded to plug in the vacuum and got ready to clean the carpet. "I don't think that he'd even have a business here if he did that. Now that you're here, he can go ahead and conduct his meetings elsewhere while you stay behind and hold the fort."

"Thanks for the recap, Mr. Obvious," the cobalt hedgehog replied sarcastically with a roll of his eyes as he closed the bathroom door for privacy. He did not say anything else for a couple of minutes after that inside.

Just as the fox was about to turn on the loud machine, he heard the phone on Sonic's desk start to ring. Knowing that the other was not in the most optimal position to answer, he took it upon himself to do it for him. Sighing, he walked towards the ringing contraption and lifted the handle off of the receiver.

"Hello, you have reached the office of Ivo Robotnik, the founder of the Robotnik Law Firm," he greeted whoever it was that was on the other end of the line with great professionalism that was easily expected of a personal secretary. "How may I help you?"

"Who is this I'm speaking to?" the person on the other end asked rather abruptly, not even bothering to introduce himself to the young fox.

"My name's T-Miles," the boy said with a quick clearing of his throat as he quickly thought against using his nickname and wanting to sound as professional as possible. "I'm sorry, but Dr. Robotnik isn't in the office at this moment. There is another attorney here, though, if you would like to speak with him."

"Is that you Tails?" the person asked, still not bothering to state his name. However, that all changed within the next few seconds. "Hey little guy, how've you been? I haven't heard from you in a little bit. It's Knuckles."

"Oh, hey Knuckles," the fox greeted the other with slight surprise in his voice upon now recognizing the owner of said voice. "Sorry for not recognizing your voice. I've been a bit busy doing things around here lately."

"And what in the world could you be so busy about inside a law firm?" the other now known as Knuckles asked with his voice sounding like he had one of his eyebrows raised in confusion. "Actually, don't answer that right now. I have something important I need to discuss with Sonic. Is he there right now?"

"He just went into the bathroom. I don't know how long he'll be in there, so how about you just leave a message and I'll..." Just as he said that, he heard the toilet flush and the sound of running water before the sight of the door opening happened. "Oh, he just came out. Let me hand the phone off to him. Just wait a moment."

"Who's that Tails?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow as he looked at the phone being shoved in his direction. "Is it some client asking for an attorney?"

"Unless Knuckles suddenly turned into a client in need of a defense, I don't think so," the two tailed fox replied with a small smile as the phone was taken off of his hands. "He said he had something important he wanted to talk to you about?"

"Really? I doubt he wants to talk about a case he's been assigned to. He likes to keep those things to himself sometimes. Hello?" the hedgehog asked as he placed the phone on his ear. "Is that you Knuckles?"

"I know that Tails told you it was me," the other on the phone said with a slight hint of aggravation in his words. "Don't go about asking about something you already know. You know I hate it when you do that."

"I know, but I just like to mess around with you like that. Anyway, what is this important thing that Tails said you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Actually, I don't think talking about this over the phone is such a good idea. It's just that it was my only way to get into contact with you from here."

"Huh? You're starting to lose me here Knucklehead. Just hurry up and spit it out already before I go and hang up on you."

"Look, just come down over to the detention center and meet me there. And please try to get here before four this afternoon. I don't really have a lot of time left before..."

"Times up buddy," the voice of another person was heard saying on the other end to Knuckles. "Best you wrap up your conversation now. Be thankful that I didn't just hang up the phone for you like I usually do on others."

"Look, just get your sorry butt down here now. I'll be waiting for you there."

"W-wait Knuckles!" Sonic exclaimed as he tried to get more information on the currently mysterious acting caller, but all he was greeted was with the sound of a dial tone, a sign that the other had already hung up.

"What's going on Sonic?" Tails asked as he was busy wiping the coffee table with a wet dishcloth he took from the small kitchen area during the call. He had been trying to listen in on the conversation but did not manage to get much out from only hearing Sonic's end. "What was so important that Knuckles wanted to talk to you about?"

"I have absolutely no idea Tails," the hedgehog admitted as he put the phone back onto its receiver and walked over towards the door. "All he said was to meet him down at the detention center before four this afternoon."

"Well, you better hurry up and get there then," the fox stated as he stole a glance at a clock that was resting against the wall. "It's already three, and it takes at least fifteen minutes to get there by cab."

"I know that. Oh, this is one of those times where it really sucks to not have a car to call you own here. Anyway, why don't you come along with me? The two of us haven't really seen the guy for a while, and I kind of have to lock the office up since I'm the only worker officially on this payroll left in here."

"That sounds like a pretty good idea. Just give me a couple of seconds to put all this stuff away and I'll be ready."

After both boys spent a couple of minutes making sure everything was put back to their rightful spot, they were both out the door with Sonic making sure he locked up adequately. The last thing he needed right now was to be chewed out by his boss for leaving the door unlocked and allowing thieves to just come in and steal whatever it is that they wanted.

After suffering through intolerable traffic inside a taxi they managed to hail for thirty minutes that they barely managed to survive through by talking with each other, the two of them finally made it to the detention center where Knuckles had asked to meet the cobalt hedgehog over the phone. The detention center was basically a slightly less severe version of a jail where people accused of a crime are held in the time both before and during their court case. It was common practice for attorneys from both sides of the line and detectives to visit the person at the center of a case.

"Tails, let me be the first to welcome you to the most boring place ever known to man on this planet," Sonic announced as he got out of the taxi followed closely by Tails. "This is the detention center where all accused criminals stay until the time the hearing of their sentence is spoken of."

"You don't have to go explaining what this place is to me Sonic," the young fox responded as he gave a slight shiver upon laying his eyes on the building with security walking in and out of it as well as around the perimeter. "I've been in there two weeks ago during that harbor murder."

"You don't have to go in there if you don't want to," the cobalt hedgehog said as he clearly noticed his little brother's unease. "I can have the cab take you back home and you could wait for me there."

"No, I'll be fine. I'll go in with you. Besides, I want to see Knuckles again. I haven't really had a chance to see him for a couple of months already."

"I know," the attorney said as he and the two tailed fox made their way towards the building. "He's been going crazy with his work lately. Those prosecutors really oughta learn how to cut him some slack. I know that being a detective for them is hard work and all, but sheesh."

"Well, they all want to make sure they have everything they possibly need to make their case heard. Nothing he can do about that, you know?"

As they continued on with their conversation, the two finally walked through the open doors of the building and were now in what looked to be a main lobby area. In it was some decorative plant décors with chairs for people to sit in. There was also a small desk with a woman sitting behind it typing away at the keyboard in front of her wit her eyes never wandering away from the monitor.

"Excuse me miss," Sonic addressed the woman politely once he had reached the desk. Said woman stopped her typing and looked at the hedgehog with a small smile in greeting and acknowledgement. "Do you know where I could find Knuckles, one of the detectives who works for the prosecutor's office?"

"Ah yes," the woman stated simply with a nod of her head as she recalled the name. "He was just brought in here a couple of hours ago. Might I ask who you are so I can tell him who it is that came to visit him?"

"Uh, my name's Sonic Hedgehog," the attorney answered, clearly confused as to what she had meant by that. He then brought his little brother up a bit so as to show that he was also a designated visitor. "And this is Miles Prower."

"Miles and Prower," the secretary murmured to herself in a sort of familiar way as she typed the names into her computer. She then brought her attention back to the two with a look of realization. "Oh, you're that attorney who defended this child from his accusation of murder, aren't you? I knew your names sounded familiar."

"Oh, I didn't think you'd remember us with all these other people wanting to visit their client and family," Tails responded with slight awe at the woman's good memory.

"Well, you sometimes learn to recognize faces when you see so many different people walking in and out so many times. Anyway, you two just go on down that hallway through the tenth door on your right."

"Thank you miss," the hedgehog thanked the secretary with a small smile as he held onto the fox's hand and led him down the aforementioned hall.

"You don't have to go holding my hand Sonic," the boy said as he wriggled his hand out of the older teen. "I'm not some little kid who needs to be led by the hand everywhere."

"I know, but I am legally responsible for you until you turn eighteen," the attorney stated with a small smile as the fox walked right up next to him. "You can't really blame me for being this clingy to you."

"Whatever. Just don't go about acting all brotherly and mushy when we're in front of Knuckles. You know that he'll never let us live it down if he saw us acting like that."

With a small chuckle leaving the hedgehog's throat, the two continued on down the hallway. It was a couple of steps later until they reached the designated door the secretary had directed them to. They went in assuming that they would meet with Knuckles, but all they were greeted with as a couple of chairs sitting against a see-through glass that separated the second half of the room. On the other side was a barred window and a security camera moving around the room in silent observation. This was a room that Tails knew all too well; after all, he was in this room when he had to take care of his trial two weeks ago.

"Why in the world would that woman direct us to this place, of all places?" Sonic wondered out loud with his eyebrows raised as he looked around his half of the room for the one who had called them over and failed to find anybody. "Is this her idea of a joke to play on me just because I'm a newbie attorney? If that's so, then it's the worst joke ever."

"Why is it that I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this?" the two tailed fox wondered with a slight tone of worry hinting at the edge of his words.

And almost as if giving an answer to us rhetorical question, the doors on the other side of the window had opened. Out came a man adorned in a blue shirt and black pants, an officer who worked at this detention center as a prisoner escort and security. Following right behind him was a red furred echidna who looked quite annoyed and possibly angered at the situation he was in. His eyes were slightly squinted with said anger before widening back to what seemed to be their original size when he saw the two on the other side.

"Oh no," the cobalt hedgehog groaned out as he slapped his forehead in disbelief. "Please tell me that you're just playing a cruel joke on me here. This is definitely not a funny thing to be trying out on the newbie here."

"Wow, I didn't think that I'd be getting that kind of a hello after not meeting you for a couple of months," the red echidna stated with sarcasm as he took a seat on a chair. "It's nice to see that you brought Tails with you too."

"Please don't tell me you managed to get yourself accused of murder Knuckles," Tails stated with disbelief in his words. "How does someone like you manage to get yourself into a mess like this?"

"Hey, not even detectives like me are immune to troubles like this," the other now known as Knuckles simply responded with a shrug of his shoulders. "I just wish that it wasn't me who was on this end of the stick. I guess I now know how the accused feel when they have to stay in here. It's not exactly the Ritz, I'll tell you that."

"How the hell did you land yourself on the other side of this stupid glass?" the defense attorney asked, clearly still not over the initial shock of seeing his good friend sitting on the other side talking to him.

"And I still don't at least get a hello from this guy. At least it's good to know that that little detail about you doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon.

"Anyway, I called you in here because I wanted to ask for your help," the echidna continued on after getting past the informality issue. "I need your help to bail me out of here. And by that, I mean I want you to represent me in court tomorrow."

"I took a figurance on you saying that," the blue furred teen responded with a sigh as he shook his head for no apparent reason. "You don't even need to ask me whether or not if I'll defend you; you should've already known the answer to that. Like Tails, I'm not going to stand by and watch you get accused of something you didn't do when I can do something about it. And before we go any further, why did you need me to rush all the way over here just to ask me if I could help you?"

"You're a fresh attorney, so I'm guessing you didn't know this little fact. If the accused doesn't manage to enlist the help of the attorney they asked to represent them in court by four on the day after they are arrested, then the state shall take the liberty of choosing one for me. That's why I asked you to rush over here. You sure know how to cut things close like you did back in high school, do you? Do you know what time it is right now?"

"So what if it's ten 'til four? At least I managed to get here before then. Hey bailiff, could you get me those attorney papers that I need to fill out?"

"The papers are over there to your left," the officer on the other side of the glass stated as he pointed to the designated area. "There's also a small camera where you can take a photo of your Attorney's Badge. You need that in order for us to know that you're a genuine attorney registered with the county. Once you're done filling it out, leave it there and I'll contact someone to come and pick it up. I'll go ahead and warn the front desk to hold the call to the district attorney's office while you fill those papers out."

"Thank you sir," Sonic thanked the man as he moved to his left where he saw some papers and a small camera. He then proceeded to officiate his claim that he would be defending Knuckles in court tomorrow.

"So Knuckles, do you think you can tell me how it was you got yourself on that side of this glass?" Tails asked, clearly wanting to know the events that led up to this current scene. "Were you really accused of murdering somebody?"

"That is what the cops and the prosecutors are saying," Knuckles stated with a small sigh and a shake of his head. "Apparently, they don't believe me when I say that I didn't kill this woman that I don't even know."

"Do you think you could tell me what happened?" the fox asked as he started to feel like Sonic's assistant with all these questions. "I don't think it'd be a good idea to wait for Sonic with this. You know how long he tends to take with homework, and I highly doubt that making out these papers would be any exception."

"I've already told this story to the detectives taking over this case, but I suppose it would be better if you hear it from me," the echidna responded with a shrug of his shoulders that was in agreement to the fox's comment. "I was told by one of my higher-ups to go and inspect a disturbance at the scene where I was arrested. What kind of disturbance it was, I have no idea. They only said that the precinct had an anonymous tipoff that something bad was going to take place. Needless to say, I went there and ended up getting myself arrested for being at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"You don't just get arrested for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. That's exactly what I thought happened to me when I was on trial, and it ended up the real murderer had somehow gotten ahold of Sonic's house number and got me to go to the harbor by saying he was a detective who had some bad news about you. He said something about you being badly wounded and wanting to talk to me about you there. I was set up then so that I could take the fall for when he dropped the crate on some other guy."

"I've already heard about that case a million times already. That Prosecutor Vector that Sonic managed to beat in his case has been cursing up a storm in his office and acting like a baby since then and driving everybody nuts about it. He almost got himself kicked out for a week without pay if I didn't go in and try to calm him down. He told me he made peace with you two after that case, but he's still acting sour about it. Honestly, it was just a simple case he lost, not the life of someone he was supposed to protect."

"I'm guessing then that you know the prosecutor pretty well."

"He was a guy who acted as my friend and babysitter before I moved away from my hometown when I was still in elementary school. I didn't think that I'd meet up with him again while working at the precinct as a detective again with him now a prosecutor. We've been trying to work on cases together as a team ever since. He worked hard to get that badge pinned onto his prized headset, and he even started a little detective agency of his own as a sort of side job and hobby outside of prosecuting cases."

"But you're not working directly for him as a part of his agency?"

"Hey, I might like the guy as a kind of an older brother deal, but I'd rather stick with my work down at the precinct. Compared to his small name agency, the pay really isn't all that great, and I have a life I need to keep in good financial standing. I'm amazed that he even has a worker working for him, let alone two. They're probably pretty good friends of his that he made after I moved, because I don't remember ever seeing them before nor have I known people to work for such a pitiful pay."

"Sounds like you got a purse pincher for a friend there," Sonic said as he finished up with a couple of the forms before moving on to taking a photo of his badge. He placed it under the lens and started pressing a couple of buttons to begin the photography process. "You never told me that you knew that crazy crocodile before."

"That's because there hasn't really been a need for me to tell you about him," Knuckles simply replied. "You never asked about my friends from before I met you, and I wouldn't have told you about it even if you had asked.

"Hey, I just got an idea!" the echidna continued as his eyes lit up a bit. "If I know how Vector is, then news about me getting arrested should've gotten to him by now. And if he knows about it, then he most likely got his guys to go on ahead and begin their investigation of the scene."

"And what does this have to do with this brilliant idea of yours?" the blue furred hedgehog questioned as there was a momentary blinding flash emitted from the camera. "I've known you since middle school, and you weren't really the kind of guy who could make such mind-catching ideas from scratch."

"Yeah, well desperate times calls for desperate measures, and this is my life that's hanging on the line here. An idea's an idea no matter how bad it might seem, and we don't really have time to be picky here. What I'm trying to say here is that being his detective agency works independently from the precinct, he has the right to hold onto any evidence and give it to anybody provided the prosecutor's office doesn't issue a subpoena for them to turn it over. And so long as he uses his prosecutor powers and registers them into the system and to the case it's connected to, then he shouldn't have any problems beyond the issuing of said subpoena. If everything has happened the way I just said it, then Vector and his gang should have some stuff on them concerning this. So long as that croc remembers to register the stuff within the prosecution records, everything should be fine."

"Ha ha, you're darn right we found some good stuff there!" a slightly high pitch and hyper voice suddenly answered, causing all three to look at the door where the visitors came in through. Hovering right in front of it was a black and yellow striped bee with a black helmet over his head. He probably stood just under Sonic's waist if he were actually standing with his two feet planted firmly on the ground. He was smiling a rather triumphant and almost cocky-like smile as he fiddled with the brown rimmed goggles perched on his helmet with one hand while the other held onto a white plastic bag filled with some unknown stuff. Right behind him was the secretary from earlier breathing heavy breaths that no doubt came from some fast movements she had performed just recently.

"Charmy, I've told you a million times to never go barging into places that you first need to get permission from somebody," Knuckles stated to the hovering and smiling bee with a sigh as he shook his head. "You're going to end up getting yourself in big trouble one of these days if you keep doing that. I'm sorry miss, but this bee works for Prosecutor Vector. I can personally vouch for that."

"Oh, it's not that I don't know who he is that I ended up chasing him," the woman said as he finally caught her breath and started to breath normally again. "It's that he just zoomed right by me without so much as even slowing down to say hello. I didn't know if he was an intruder or anything like that."

"Gee, I'm sorry to have scared you half out of your mind lady," the small bee known as Charmy said without really looking at her when he apologized as he continued to hover closer towards Tails and the echidna.

"Just please remember to not do that again. I won't allow you to enter this detention center anymore if that happens," the woman warned before smoothing out her shirt and walking back to her position at the front desk.

"I wonder what's eating her from the inside out?" the hyper bee wondered innocently as he shrugged his shoulders. He then said while still seemingly unaware of the other two in the room with him, "Anyway, Vector told me to come here and give this stuff to you so that you could give it to whoever is going to be helping you get out of this mess."

"I knew that Vector would catch wind about this," the echidna stated with a smile. "Tell him thanks for me when you get back. You can go ahead and pass on the stuff to the guy that's just to your left."

"Oh, I didn't even see him there!" the bee stated excitedly as he looked to his left and saw Sonic just staring at him with raised eyebrows. "Sorry about that big guy. All the stuff that we managed to get ahold of at the scene before the precinct detectives started showing up is in this bag."

"Uh, thanks?" the cobalt hedgehog thanked in an unsure tone as he took procession of the bag pushed at him.

"So you didn't end up getting everything in the park that you thought would be useful there?"

"Well, me and Espio didn't really have much a chance to do a thorough check after looking for some of the obvious stuff. We really only took the things that we could clearly on the first get-go. Sorry about that."

"At least it's better than nothing," the attorney said with a shrug as he opened the bag to see what was in there. Most of them were already inside an evidence bag and clearly labeled with a small description, so it was safe for him to dive in without any gloves. As he took them out and placed them on the table, he took note of what they were. They were a simple Handgun, a Crime Scene Photo taken before anything was touched and collected, a single Bullet, and a red Cell Phone with a sort of fire décor on it and a strap with the word"KNUCKLES" on it.

"What the hell is my Cell Phone doing in that bag?" Knuckles exclaimed with surprise as he looked at the device resting on the table. "Is this you're your attempt at making a joke or something Charmy?"

"Hey, I might be immature, but I at least know that joking around with evidence isn't really the smartest things to do," the small bee responded without flinching at the sudden change of tone. "That and Espio would've killed me if he saw me trying to play a prank like that on you. We found it just lying there next to the victim. It looks as if he had a struggle with you and the phone fell out of his hands when he fell."

"But that's impossible!" the echidna stated with anger clear in his voice. "I lost my phone the day before yesterday's fiasco. I couldn't possibly have conveniently left my phone there for the police to find, regardless whether I murdered the girl or not. And just for the record, I never once laid a finger on the victim."

"Speaking of victims, did you guys managed to get an ID on the poor guy?" Sonic asked as he took a look at the photo. It showed a female teal furred fox garbed in regular outing clothes lying face up with a single gunshot wound on her chest directly over her heart. It was clear to him that she had died instantaneously. Her body was kind of off the park path close to a line of trees that lead into the park's rather small forest. The Cell Phone he had now was shown in the picture lying right next to the woman's open right hand, signifying that she might have held onto it just before being shot.

"Sorry, but Vector didn't manage to get that far into his personal investigation. He kind of ran out of time and had me rush over here when it was getting close to four so that I could hand this stuff off to whoever was defending Knuckles."

"Oh well, I'm sure that we'll be able to figure out who she is in court tomorrow," the cobalt hedgehog simply responded with a small shrug of his shoulders as he put all the evidence back into the white plastic bag it came in. "Do you think that I could go and see what's there at the crime scene?"

"I doubt it. The police are practically swarming the park like a bunch of crazy people. I don't think you'd be able to set even one foot inside unless you have someone in the police department or even the prosecutor's office to give you permission."

"Then how about we go and ask Vector to give us permission?" Tails suggested as he looked at the papers long discarded by the attorney and made sure he had filled them out correctly. "He's a prosecutor, and he does have close ties with Knuckles. That and he decided to become our friends after you beat him that time."

"I can try asking him for you guys, but I doubt he'll be able to give you access until tomorrow. He got swamped with work on other cases right before I left to give you this stuff. If you want to go searching the park, it'll have to wait until tomorrow."

"Well, as long as we get to go in there sometime during this case, it'll be fine. Thanks again for giving us this stuff Charmy."

"Anytime," the bee responded with a huge beaming smile on his face as he began to leave the room. "Anyway, I got to hurry up and get back. Espio wanted me to do something for him after I did this. With the way the guys are treating me, you'd think that I was some kind of messenger boy."

"I think it's high time we left, too," the hedgehog stated just as the hyper bee left the room. He then said as he made his way to the door. "I need to get back to the office and put in the record that I'll be defending you on this case. Dr. Robotnik may be a good defense attorney, but he sure is a stickler for all these small details and stuff. Later Knucklehead."

"We'll see you tomorrow Knuckles," the two tailed fox said as he followed behind the quickly retreating attorney and waved goodbye to the echidna on the other side of the glass. "Sonic'll get you out of this; I'm sure of it."

"Just make sure he doesn't end up flubbing up my only chance at getting out of here," the detective stated just before they had both left the room. He then added thoughtfully to himself as he got up and began to be escorted out of the room, Having one successful case under his belt hardly qualifies for him to be a reliable attorney. I hope I didn't make him bite off more than he could chew by asking him to defend me.

---

New Evidence:

Attorney's Badge: Nobody would believe that Sonic was one if he didn't have it pinned proudly upon his chest. He proved that he was deserving of it despite his age after successfully completing his first career case.

Handgun: The murder weapon in the killing at the park. It is a precinct issue wielded by the detectives. Both the prints and the serial number connecting it to its owner have been wiped clean. It shows signs of being fired twice.

Crime Scene Photo: Shows the scene of the murder before Vector and his detective gang collected the evidence. A handgun is seen lying abandoned a few feet away from the body; a fiery red cell phone is seen on the ground a few inches from the victim's open right hand. It also shows a single gunshot wound to the chest above the heart.

Bullet: A bullet found lodged in a nearby tree. Tests show that it was fired by the gun found at the scene.

Red Cell Phone: Belongs to Knuckles. He says he lost it the day before the murder and that it couldn't have been anywhere near the crime scene. It has a black strap that has its owner's name on it. The prints have been wiped.

New Profiles:

Sonic Hedgehog: A seventeen year old blue furred male hedgehog. Passed the bar exam with flying colors, allowing him to earn his Attorney's Badge a year earlier than normal. Has a likable and confident attitude about him, but sometimes gets nervous when in the courtroom. He's Tails' adoptive big brother.

Miles Prower: Best known by his nickname Tails. He's a twelve-year-old orange furred fox with two tails. He spends most of his time in the Robotnik Law Firm where Sonic works making sure the place stays relatively clean. He doesn't go to school because of the school board recognizing his brilliant mind surpassing even the most advanced high school work.

Dr. Ivo Robotnik: A fifty-three year old defense attorney of some renown. He owns his own law firm, albeit a small business version, and hired Sonic to be his understudy. He's usually too busy working on some kind of case to be seen in the office much. He allows Tails to hang out in the office regardless if he does any work in there or not.

Knuckles Echidna: The defendant in this case and Sonic and Tails' friend. He is an eighteen-year-old detective who works at the local precinct and is apparently good friends with Prosecutor Vector. He has been accused of murdering a woman found shot to death in the local park.

Charmy Bee: A hyper little bee who's attitude sometimes surpasses his eight-year-old body. He works alongside Prosecutor Vector as a sort of small rag-tag group of detectives that work apart from the local precinct detectives.