"For formality's sake, I will revise the case post-disaster." Blackquill clasped his shackled hands together. "The victim is Director Yuri Cosmos. Death by one stab wound. The suspect is Clay Terran. And his motive, I say...is the moon rock."

Clay gulped. Apollo clenched his fist as Blackquill looked towards the defendant's chair, subtly relishing the fear emenating from it.

"The prosecution held that the defendant wished to sell this precious specimen, and still does. But another point comes to mind. The prosecution declares that the defendant, expecting the possibility of failure, engineered the destruction of the Hope capsule, and by extension this venerable courthouse!"

"OBJECTION!"

Apollo almost practiced his signature stand slam, remembering just in time that the wood panel was not available. He cleared his throat.

"I find that hard to believe, Prosecutor Blackquill. Do you know why?"

Blackquill scoffed. "Do tell."

Apollo cleared his throat with a cough. "You mean to suggest that my client rigged the Hope capsule to blow. But that would be a very difficult window of opportunity to take advantage of. If what you are saying is true, then my client would have to prepare the explosive device and leave it inside the Hope capsule, without anyone checking it before I did on that day in the courthouse."

Blackquill's smirk faltered ever so slightly. "When you have eliminated what is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

"I gotta say, Simon..."

Apollo's eyes darted to the TV. The Judge shuffled himself as best as he could, allowing Aura to take center stage on the TV display.

"The boy has a point. If Clay really did rig the capsule to blow, then it'd be a stunning display of incompetence for the police..."

"You dare question our high standards and work ethic!" Detective Bobby Fulbright leaped into action, shaking a fist at the screen in righteous fury. "I have full confidence in all my peers, and Prosecutor Blackquill most of all!"

"SILENCE!"

Blackquill glared. "Your objection can be easily refuted, boy. The prosecution holds that Clay Terran had an accomplice who could act in his stead, even while he himself was in custody!"

"OBJECTION!"

Apollo pointed a finger at the prosecutor. "That's way too convenient for you, wouldn't you agree, Mr. Blackquill? I'll assume you don't actually have a suspect who would take the role of this alleged accomplice!"

"OBJECTION!"

"What I do have is time." Blackquill countered. "Under the conditions of my parole, I have the right to order investigations and inspections."

But Apollo did not answer. He stood there, staring blankly ahead.

"A-Apollo?" Clay raised his voice.

What Clay did not know was that the bracelet on Apollo's wrist was finally reacting.

What is it? What is it?

Despite the fog in his head, Apollo's eyes refocused on Blackquill. The prosecutor's eyes...were locked on the exit of the courtroom.

"Well," The Judge spoke up uneasily, unable to account for Apollo's trance. "We all need evidence to verify..."

"Hold it right there!"

Everyone turned their heads as a young woman came rushing through the gaping hole in the room that used to support the double door. The long black hair flowed behind her, and for a split-second the confused Apollo thought it was Reina.

"Detective Kay Faraday, reporting for duty!" She had a police badge in one hand and a plastic bag in the other.

"Is that what I think it is?" Fulbright pointed towards the bag in Kay's hand. "Speak of the devil and heaven bless us, it appears we have some new evidence on our hands!"

"What...?" Apollo felt as if he had jumped three feet into the air.

Aura was as flabbergasted as anyone else. "C-come again?"

"Indeed!" Kay snapped on a plastic glove before she pulled something from the bag. The lighter was small, with a pale silvery color. There was a small symbol on it, an image of planet Earth.

"I found this at the space center." Kay continued. "Evidently, it had been overlooked when the police first inspected the scene of the crime. I have tested it, and I can completely and categorically say that the fingerprints belong to one Athena Cykes."

Everyone became dead silent.

Athena opened and closed her mouth repeatedly.

"No...no, t-that can't be..."

Apollo did not know what to make of Athena's reaction, or the full and complete implication of the lighter. But he knew there was a step he could take.

"Your Honor! Or...Aura!" He floundered. "The defense demands a recess to account for this new piece of evidence!"

For a moment, Aura looked as lost as anyone else. But she shifted. Even through the TV screen, her eyes pierced Athena's soul.

"Very well. Twenty minutes, no more and no less."

"Twenty minutes, no more and no less." The Judge nodded his head rapidly.

-A multi-chapter story; Chapter 47; story idea by CRed1988 and writing by Jerviss.