Here we go, the continuing the investigation and try to get Hunter to let us defend him.

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this.

DM77's Ace Attorney Chapter 27

The DL6 Incident

December 25, Seadra Lake, Public Beach

They arrive back and see the Police Troopers were already leaving.

"Looks like the police troopers have given up their interviewing." Jaden said seeing them leave.

"Hey!" A voice said and Jaden and J look and see that the person who spoke to them was….Santa Claus?! And he was staring at J

"Aah!" Jaden jumped in surprise. "J! I think Santa's mad at you!"

"Long time no see, J." Santa said to the drone girl.

"J…you know Santa?!" Jaden said surprised "Wow….J and St. Nick…Huh…I don't see the connection!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" J said to him.

"Hey, it's me!" Santa said and he removes the hat and beard to reveal a familiar face with blond hair.

"J….Joey!" J said surprised and smiling happily, she hasn't seen her old friend Joey since his trial. "What are you doing here?!"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm working my day job!" Joey said smiling pointing to the Ranger Dog stand "I sell Ranger Dogs! Want one? Got to get money for dates, you know. My girl Lindsey deserves the best!"

'L-Lindsey…? Not another model, I hope…' J thinks.

"Oh, Heather's a fine, fine woman, J." Joey said happily "It was here idea that I wear this costume! She was all 'You go girlfriend!' You know? She bought this costume for me!"

"That…that's great, Joey." J said sighing.

"Wow! A Santa costume! She must be really nice!" Jaden said smiling.

"Whoa! Cool!" Joey said looking at Jaden. "J! Who's he? He's not your…?"

"Not my…what?" J said then realizes she said "N-no, he's not!"

"I'm her partner, Jaden Yuki." Jaden said to Joey. "I'm, uh, the little brother."

"Brother…?" Joey said confused then gets sad "Wow, J, must be tough. Working nine to five, having to take care of a little adopted brother…"

"N-no, I'm not J's brother, I'm my older brother's little brother…" Jaden said realizing the misunderstanding.

"Huh. Sounds great!" Joey said smiling

'Don't worry, Jaden, he's not listening…' J thinks rolling her eyes, seems Terra was no where inside Joey's head. She then asked "Hey, Joey. There was a murder here last night…And since you work here…Have you heard anything?"

"J, you're wasting your time." Jaden said to her. "Last night was Christmas Eve! He was with Lindsey, obviously! He wouldn't have been standing out here in the cold!"

"Oof!" Joey lets out looking sad.

Jaden looked confused and J said "I think what you said caught him off guard, Jaden."

"N-no, it's just…. Lindsey's not in town right now." Joey said sadly. "She…she's in Hawaii on a phot shoot."

'A model. I knew it.' J thought mentally face palming. She then said "Well, anyway, there was a murder here on the lake. The trial's tomorrow."

"Huh. Neat." Joey said smiling.

"The defendant is Hunter. Hunter Deamonne." J also told him.

"Um, J?" Jaden said to her. "Why would Joey know Hunter?"

"Whoa, J!" Joey suddenly lets out "You don't mean THAT Hunter Deamonne?! Old Hunty?!"

"Yeah. He's a murder suspect" J said with a nod.

"Wh-whoa! Murder?" Joey said in shock.

"Huh? You know Mr. Deamonne, Joey?" Jaden said in surprise.

"Yeah! Of course!" Joey said smiling "Hunty was in the same class as us in grade school!"

"Whaaaaaaaat?!" Jaden yells out in shock. "Before we continue this thought…ummm…tell me about the dogs!"

"Huh? Oh, you mean the Ranger Dogs?" Joey said smiling.

"W-why are they Ranger Dogs?" Jaden asked. "I…I mean they kind of look serpent shaped.

"Oh, well originally, they were Seadra Dogs! Named after the lake." Joey explained.

"I see…" Jaden said nodding.

"The Ranger thing was Lindsey's idea." Joey continued "Oh, she's my woman, you know. She was all 'change the name and you go girlfriend!' She made me that banner! Man, the kids can't get enough of those Ranger Dogs!"

"Erm…" Jaden said sadly "Something about that just seems…wrong."

"Oh, and guess what?" Joey added smiling proudly "We're getting a ton of customers here at the lake, what with the big news!"

"The 'big news'…?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah! Seadray!" Joey said happily.

"S-Seadray…?" Jaden said confused. "Ummm….what's 'Seadray'?"

"Huh? You mean you don't know?" Joey asked. "It's here, in this very lake! A giant mysterious serpent like monster! Seadray!"

"A…. monster?" Jaden asked surprised.

"Yeah." Joey said nodding. He pulls out a newspapers and said "Check it out. This is an article from yesterday's newspaper. There's a photo!"

"Wow! It's r-really real!" Jaden said amazed. The photo showed two people getting a picture by Seadra Lake and in the background as a silhouette of what looked like a sea serpent in the lake. "J! A monster! A real monster!"

"Umm…yeah." J said nodding but thinks 'It's probably just a log or something…right?' She looks at the article "Hey…there's a quote here from the person who took the photo. Hmmm…What's this?"

She reads the quote saying, "I set the camera to automatic, and when we got into the frame…I heard a loud 'bang'! Like an explosion…followed by the sound of something slipping into the water…"

"I wish I could have seen it!" Jaden said smiling.

'Why would there be a sound like an explosion…?' J thinks curious and then said "Joey. Could I borrow this article from you?"

"Sure, no problem." Joey said handing it over "That'll be one million dollars!"

"O-one million…?" Jaden said shocked.

'Grow up, Joey.' J thinks rolling her eyes and she adds the Seadray Article to the Court Record. She looks at the Ranger Dog stand and said "I can't get over the Ranger Dogs…"

"The 'Orginal' Ranger Dogs, no less." Jaden said smiling.

"Hey, man, whoever calls their product the 'orginal' first wins!" Joey said proudly.

"Why don't you add 'world-famous' to the sign?" J said sarcastically.

"Hey, good idea!" Joey said happily.

'What have I done…?' J thinks worried and decided to get back on the actual topic with Hunter.

Jaden had the same idea and asked "So, Mr. Deamonne was your classmate, Joey?"

"Yeah, J, him and I used to hang out all the time." Joey said smiling "We helped find and abandoned Pokemon a new home with Hunter and even bonded over watching Toa Rangers, I even won a prize of Toa Ranger keyrings we shared, I got Green, J got Black silver and Hunter got Gold."

"Wow…I never knew." Jaden said sadly.

"Don't get me wrong. He's always been kind of a stick in the mud." Joey explained. "Studying all the time, trying to 'be like his adoptive father.'"

"Like his adoptive father…?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah, his adoptive father who raised him since he was a baby." Joey said nodding "Hunty's pop was a famous defence lawyer back in the day."

"Wow." Jaden said amazed but realizes something "Wait…You said, 'defence lawyer'?"

"Yep, I did." Joey said nodding.

"Wait a second!" Jaden continues and said "But Mr. Deamonne is a prosecuting attorney!"

"What? Hunty's got a proboscis on his knee?!" Joey asked confused.

"No, no—he's a 'prosecuting attorney.'" Jaden told him. "That's like the total opposite of a defence lawyer!"

Joey processes this and looks sad saying "Huh. Go figure! He always used to talk about defending the 'weak' who were 'unable to defend themselves.' Man, he used to go on and on about man's duty to society and all that. What a bore! I wonder what changed his mind, though?" He thinks and looks to J "Do you know, J?"

J remains silent as she was in deep thought. Jaden looks at her and said "J…?"

"Let's go…we need to warm up before we plan our next move." J said and heads to leave the park. Jaden follows as they head back to the office.

Once they were back in the office, they relaxed with some warm drinks and J thinks on the events. She then noticed Jaden in deep thought.

"What is it Jaden?" J asked.

"Oh." Jaden said smiling "Nothing…Just, something's been bothering me. Could you show me that autopsy report once more?" J nods and hands it to him. Jaden looks at it then goes wide eyed "Hey! I-I remember now!" She shows the picture of the victim "This guy! He's a lawyer that was at that office Terra worked at! I met him once when I went there to hang out with Bro!"

"That office…?" J said thinking remembering the place "Wait! You mean Ansem's office?"

"Right! That guy!" Jaden said nodding.

'That was the last name I expected to come up…' J thinks, she hasn't met with Ansem since Terra's murder case. 'Maybe I should go talk to him…for old time's sake.'

The two leave for Ansem's Law Office.

December 25, Ansem's Law Offices.

As they walk in they hear Ansem loudly clear his throat.

'Ah, that old familiar clearing of the throat!' J thinks smiling looking around, she sees that the wall where Ansem's painting hung before he handed it over to Jack was still bare, guess he never got it back.

"Ah hah! You're Terra's…something are you not?" Ansem said standing up from his desk smiling.

"I was his understudy, yes. Serial Designation J." J said with a nod.

"Ah hah!" Ansem said and looks to Jaden "And you, you're Terra's….something too, are you not?"

"His little brother, yes!" Jaden said smiling.

"You've grown!" Ansem said looking at him. "You've come to look a lot like your brother, you know? It takes me back. 'Ahh..the days of my youth…like the scent of a fresh sea salt ice cream…' you see."

"Um, Mr. Ansem, sir?" J said not wanting to get side tracked.

"Hmm…?" Ansem said looking at J and realize "Ah, yes. I beg your pardon. Of course, you came here to discuss something." He takes them to the couch and sits with them and serves some tea for him and Jaden and oil for J and asked "What is it then? Something the matter?"

Before they got to the actual business, J just needed to ask about the painting just to know why Ansem doesn't have it back. She asked "Mr. Ansem? Whatever happened to that painting?"

"Oh yes…" Ansem said sighing "I do not think it shall ever be coming back home to this office. I can't exactly claim it as stolen…I suppose it's my just desserts. Old, bitter desserts."

J nods understanding, even when locked up, the effects Handsome Jack left behind are still felt. She then said getting on the actual topic. "There was a murder last night…"

"A murder?" Ansem asked.

"You haven't heard…?" J asked surprised.

"If I'm honest…I just got up you see." Ansem said sipping his tea.

"Well, Hunter Deamonne shot someone with a pistol." J explains to him.

"Deamonne?! What?!" Ansem said doing a spit take in shock. "W-who did he shoot?!"

"Well, the identity of the victim is still unknown." J tells him.

"T-this is terrible news indeed!" Ansem said still in shock.

'I guess he hadn't heard anything…' J thinks and gets out the autopsy report and presents it to Ansem.

Ansem takes it and looks through the report and looks at the photo "Hmmm? Strange…I feel as though I've seen this man somewhere before!" He focuses on the photo "Aaaaaaaaaah!" He lets out in realization.

"Did you remember?!" J asked shocked.

"He was a lawyer! Here, in my office!" Ansem tells the two and pointing to the photo. "That's Ironwood! James Ironwood!"

"Mr. Ironwood…?" Jaden said thinking.

"And you say this is the man Hunter Deamonne shot?" Ansem asked them.

J nods and asked "Who is this Ironwood guy, anyway?"

"Mr. Ironwood…" Ansem said calming down and takes a deep breath "He was the defence attorney in that case…"

"'That case'…?" J said thinking.

"Yes, the 'DL-6 Incident.'" Ansem said nodding.

"'DL-6'…?" J said thinking 'Why does that sound so familiar?'

"Perhaps you remember?" Ansem tells her.

'I'm sure someone mentioned it during the trial for Terra's murder.' J thinks on it.

"That was the incident where the police troopers were so at a loss they used a keyblade warrior." Ansem explained to her

Jaden eyes widen and says "Wait…you don't mean? Was that warrior my father?"

"Yes, my boy." Ansem said nodding. "The keyblade warrior, Eraqus Yuki, your father, contacted the spirit of the victim." He looks sad "But…the case was a loss. No conviction was made."

Ansem then continues to go into more detail on it "The DL-6 Incident, yes…Happened 15 years ago. A very strange case, indeed."

"They never caught the criminal, right?" J asked him.

"Correct." Ansem said nodding. "Eraqus Yuki used his powers to talk to the spirit of the late victim. His testimony led to charges being laid against one man." He sighs and says "But Mr. Ironwood won the case and the suspect was declared innocent."

Jaden looks down sad and said "And the police blamed my father, calling him a fraud. You were the one who helped him out then, right, Mr. Ansem?"

"Er…y-yes. Yes, quite." Ansem said awkwardly even though he also ended up letting the info leak out.

"Thank you!" Jaden said smiling.

"N-no…please. D-don't mention it." Ansem said to him.

J was in thought as she thinks 'DL-6…Never thought I'd hear that name again…' She thought her trip to this case was over when she defeated Handsome Jack, but seems this case as well might also have connections to DL-6.

"But wait…" Jaden said thinking and asked "What does that case have anything to do with Mr. Deamonne?"

"It has everything to do with Mr. Deamonne, my boy!" Ansem explained "The victim in the DL-6 Incident was not other than is his father, Darius Deamonne!"

"Wh-what?! His father?!" Jaden said in shock.

Ansem sighs and said "If you want to know more, you should ask him yourself." He then pulls out a familiar picture to J, the DL-6 Exhibit A photo of the man with black hair and in a samurai garb. "Show him this…I'm sure he'll talk to you."

"Wait…" Jaden said looking at the photo and gets sad "This is a photograph of my father!"

J nods and takes the photo and adds Eraqus Yuki's Photo to the Court Record. They said their goodbyes to Ansem and headed back to the Detention Centre.

December 25, Detention Centre, Visitor's Room

They sit and Hunter was brought to see them again. Hunter seeing them asked "What's this? I was hoping you'd gotten my message the first time."

"Hunter, what about your defence?" J asked him.

Hunter looks away and said, "It's no concern of yours."

'Guess he hasn't found anyone yet.' J thinks and then presents to Hunter, Eraqus Yuki's photo. Hunter seeing that stares at it surprised but looks away again "Hunter?"

"It's only been a matter of hours since you last visited." Hunter said "Yet you've made incredible progress in your investigation." He then looks at J face softened a bit "I'll admit it, I'm impressed, J. You were always single-minded in your work, though. Once you start on something you always see it though, don't you?"

"About the 'DL-6 Incident'…" J said to him.

"Right…DL-6." Hunter said with a nod. He looks away saying "I didn't want you to find out about it. That is why I refused your offer to defend me. I'm sorry if it sounded like I thought you weren't up to the job. I just wanted to keep you away from DL-6."

"So…do you still think it would have been better for me to stay away?" J asked him.

"I don't know" Hunter said sighing "But…I see no point in hiding anything from you now. Very well. Ask whatever you like, and I will answer to the best of my abilities."

"The tells us what you know of DL-6" J suggested.

Hunter nods and said "The 'DL-6 Incident'…was when my father died." We briefly see a flashback shoing a black skinned mand with purple abomination hair in white pants, boots, black top and a purple cape lying dead on the floor in an elevator. "Right before my eyes…He was shot and killed, and I saw it all." Hunter said.

Jaden was shocked at that. Hunter continues to speak "My memories from that time are…foggy. I suppose it's a self-defence mechanism. In any case, a suspect was arrested…a man. It's pretty clear he was the only one who could have killed my father. The keyblade warrior they used to talk to my late father said the same thing. It was an attorney by the name of James Ironwood that cleared the suspect's name."

"And Ironwood…is the victim in the Seadra Lake murder?" J asked him.

"Correct." Hunter said nodding.

"Umm…" Jaden said concerned "That keyblade warrior…That was my dad."

"What? You mean you're…?" Hunter said in surprise and thinks on it "It's strange. I thought that terrible incident was about to end, and now…this."

"'About to end'?" J asked confused.

"The DL-6 Incident happened 15 years ago." Hunter explained "15 years ago…on December 28."

"December 28?" Jaden asked.

"The statute limitations on the case runs out in three days." Hunter further explained.

"What?!" J said in shock.

"Um, J? What does that mean?" Jaden asked confused.

"When a case's statute of limitations runs out, legally, the case never happened." J explained to him.

"Three days from now, DL-6 will be closed…forever." Hunter added to that.

"What happened to the suspect? The one who got off innocent?" Jaden asked him.

"I don't know…" Hunter admits "He disappeared from public view. Nobody knows where to. If he's still alive, he's be about 50 years old now."

'I guess I can understand why he'd go into hiding…' J thinks on it. 'It'd be hard to live a normal life after being a murder suspect in such a big case.'

"Umm…so was your adoptive father a lawyer?" Jaden asked smiling.

"He was…" Hunter said nodding. "Darius Deamonne. He was quite famous at the time, apparently."

"So, you were sort of trying to follow in his footsteps." Jaden said with a smile.

Hunter looks away and looks down said "I'd rather not talk about it." J then pulls out the Lake Photo and shows it to him and he looks at it "Hmph…Who would have thought there'd be a photo…?"

"Hunter…Did you shoot him?" J asked looking him right in the eyes

Hunter keeps eyes locked with hers and asked, "What do you think, J?"

"I don't think you're the kind to point a gun at anyone, no." J told him.

"So, you didn't shoot him?" Jaden asked.

"No I didn't. It wasn't me." Hunter said keeping eyes locked with J's. He then looks away and said "J." She looks puzzled as he looks at her serious "It pains me to ask you this now…"

"I know! You want us to defend you!" Jaden said happily.

"Yes…Will you?" Hunter asked.

"Ah, who could have guessed this day would come?" J said smiling of course she was going to defend him.

"Not me." Hunter said to her.

"This is my chance to finally pay you back." J said with a nod.

"Pay him back…?" Jaden said confused.

"Pay me back?" Hunter asked confused as well. "For what? I don't remember ever doing anything for you."

"Never mind…. I guess you don't really need to know." J said rubbing her head.

"Huh…" Hunter said more confused but then writes on a piece of paper and hands it to J. "My letter of request. Please give it to Detective N."

J accepts it and adds Hunter's Request, temporarily to the court record till she hands it to N. J said "Well, I guess we should…" Then all of a sudden the room begins to shake "W-what's that?!"

"E-earthquake! J! It's a big one!" Jaden said holding onto something "Whaaa! I-it's calming down…" soon the shaking stops "Phew…that was scary!"

J nods and looks to see that Hunter was no long sitting on the seat opposite them "Huh? Where's Hunter?"

Jaden looks and smiles saying "There. He's on the floor in a ball, shivering. I guess he doesn't do so well with earthquakes."

'I heard of running, but curling up in a ball?' J thinks confused.

"Well, I guess we're done." Jaden said thinking "Mr. Deamonne doesn't seem like he's going to stand up any time soon. Lets go, J."

"Uh…right." J said concerned as she looks to see some police troopers go to check on Hunter. "We have to give Hunter's letter of request to Detective N."

The two then leave Hunter in care of the guards and head for the Police Trooper station.

December 25, Police Trooper Department, Criminal Affairs

As soon they enter, they hear N yell out looking at them firmly "What's going on here?!"

"Eek!" Jaden jumps in surprise. "W-what's wrong, Detective?"

"This wild guy comes in here just a while ago…Says he came 'to talk to all of you after hearing what Miss. J had to say'!" N said annoyed "What's this all about, buddy?!"

'Todd Snap…' J thinks realizing who he was talking about.

"Why are you going around finding more witnesses?!" N asked her. "You want to give Mr. Deamonne the death sentence, buddy?!"

"N-no, not at all…" J said shaking her head "Just…I mea, he did see something. There's nothing I can do about that. I can't go around covering up evidence!"

"Er…" N said thinking on that and then asked firmly "You trying to say something about the way I do my job?"

"No sir!" J said to him. She then asked "So…. why did Mr. Snap say?"

"He says he saw Mr. Deamonne fire the pistol." N said rubbing his head.

"What?!" Jaden said shocked.

"He even had a photograph to prove it." N said sadly.

"Right. I saw it too…" J said thinking "But you really can't tell from the photo who it is shooting."

"That's why he said he's going to enlarge the photo." N explained. He said, 'it'll drop the quality a bit, but should let us see who's who!'"

"He can do that?!" Jaden asked shocked.

'Okay, so there's going to be an enlarged photograph that shows Hunter in the act. Great. Just great.' J thinks on it.

"In any case, he's going to be the one testifying tomorrow." N tells her.

"Huh?" Jaden said surprised "What happened to the other witness?"

"Well…Apparently, there was a cancellation." N admits.

'A 'cancellation'…?!' J thinks on it.

"I'm afraid tomorrow is going to be life or death for poor Mr. Deamonne." N said sadly. "We got a witness who says he saw the very moment of the murder. And we got a photo taken when the shot rang out."

'I'd say that sounds like a pretty unwinnable case…But wait…What did Terra used to say?' J thinks 'If he's innocent, there's got to be something I've overlooked…'

"It sounds like Mr. Deamonne is going to ask the state to assign a public defender." N said thinking "I was just asked to file the paperwork. But you still got time, buddy! Go talk to him again, for me, please! You have to convince him! You have to make him let you defend him! Please! I know you're the only one who can do it, buddy. You're the only one who can save Mr. Deamonne!"

"Way a head of you N." J said pulling out Hunter's Request and handing it to him. "Look what I got."

N looks at it and smiles saying "Hey, you did it, buddy! So glad I waited till last minute to file those papers! I'll rip them up and start new ones for you!"

"Thanks, Detective." J said smiling. "Well, see you in court tomorrow, then."

"Good luck, buddy." N said happily but then realizes something and said "Hey! You guys feel that earthquake a little while back? I was worried!"

"Worried?" Jaden asked. "We're fine! I lived out here my whole life. I'm pretty used to them by now."

N rubs his head and said "Oh, I wasn't worried about you two. I was worried about Mr. Deamonne!"

'Oh right…' J thinks recalling what happened "He did seem to over-react a little, now that you mention it."

"Yeah, well, I'm not surprised. It was a pretty big quake." N said nodding. "I'm going to go check on him. You two go eat and get your rest for tomorrow's trial. Later!" He then quickly leaves.

Jaden thinks and says "I wonder what it is with Mr. Deamonne and earthquakes?"

"I wonder…" J thinks on it. "He was never that scared of them when he was in school." She then closes her eyes and thinks 'Then again, I only really got to know him in 4th grade. He transferred to another school after that. I wonder what happened to Hunter…'

Well that is it for the first investigation, now we will enter the trial and hopefully at least make it to go to another day.

Please Read, Review and Suggest. Thank you.