Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth: End of an Era
Episode 4: Turnabout on Life Support
The intruder waits outside the hospital ward. Everything is in place. They walk in, set the trap, and walk out. Easy.
Before they enter, the intruder can't help but think about what they're about to do. This isn't their first time on the wrong side of the law, but this is different. This is big.
How did it get to this point? They'd never been the greatest person, but never thought they were bad! All the things they'd done… how'd it lead them to this?
Beep… Beep… Beep... Beep… Beep...
The patient woke up to the sound of a heart monitor, eyes blurry and vision dim. The world seemed to swirl around her. It took her a second to realize where she was: a hospital room of some kind.
But… why was she in the hospital? Where was everyone? The patient felt paralyzed, her brain refusing to cough up the memories that would explain how she'd gotten here. Unbidden, a collection of images rolled through her mind.
A small room, with a table. A woman on the other side, lips pursed in thought. Next to her on the table, a whip. The patient had been talking to someone. But what about?
Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep...
Though she didn't realize it, she'd actually been woken up by the sound of a door, opening and closing as an intruder snuck inside. The intruder froze when they saw the patient awake, nearly dropping the item in their hands.
The intruder hadn't been expecting her to be awake. They had hoped she would be nice and asleep when they made this delivery. That way she wouldn't remember them, in case anything went wrong. That way, they could pretend they weren't actually about to do this, even though they had to.
Their heart stopped when the patient laid eyes on them. The intruder froze as she reached out, noticing her shaking arm more than the dazed look in her eyes. They nearly ran out of there, panting in fear as it was.
Beep… Beep… Beep…
The patient didn't know who was standing over her, but she tried to reach out. To wave. As she did, the intruder fiddled with a machine beside her bed with one hand, a circular object in the other. A plate, it seemed.
Were they her doctor? A lab technician? What were they doing to the machine? ...Why was she hooked up to machines, anyway? Nothing made sense anymore.
Not that she would ever know, but it was actually the patient alarm their hand was messing with. The intruder was turning it off. The intruder couldn't risk anyone interfering with what was to come. Not if they wanted to keep the life they loved.
Beep… Beep…
After the intruder finished disarming the alarm, he set the plate down on the bedside table, right next to the patient. Her hand wandered to the plate, closing around what was on it. The smell wafted through the air. It was supposed to be just enough to be near it. If the patient actually touched it, the reaction (and her death) would only happen faster. And uglier. The intruder didn't want to be there when it happened.
The intruder raced out the door at the first sign of convulsions, guilt overwhelming them as they closed the door behind them. They resisted the urge to run further, lest they be seen by unwanted eyes. They very nearly march back in, ready to stop what is about to happen. But it they did, it would all be revealed. A checkered past. A whole sum of mistakes. There is already so much distrust, they can't be the cause of anymore.
Once out of there, the intruder listened through the door as the patient gasped for breath. To the sound of flailing limbs hitting metal surfaces, of choked gasps. After an agonizing minute, the sounds slowly but surely died out. The intruder waited with bated breath for the signal.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
And there it was. Their job was done.
Her life was over.
A/N's: The story of this is that Ajani and PTV wrote two separate openings that were meshed together into this one. Both would like to leave notes.
PTV: I really like this opening. I say that about all our openings, but it's true. It really captures the feeling we wanted it to convey without giving away too much about the case and culprit. You get a general feel for their thoughts and motives, but that's it. To me, putting our two openings together was better than picking one or the other. I hope you all liked it as much as we did.
Ajani: I really enjoy it. While my original idea was to do it from the killer's perspective, PTV had a version from the victim's. However, merging the two together was clearly the best. It's so unique and really paints a picture of what's going on from both ends.
PTV: Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy what is to come, and I'll see you on the far side!