Time to find out the secret of the circus, what could it be?
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this.
DM77's Ace Attorney Justice for All Chapter 22
The Circus' Secret
December 29, Lodging House – 1st Floor, Krusty's Room
The two enter the clown's room and find it empty. Jaden looking around said "Hmm…Krusty's not here."
"What's that?!" J said looking around hearing movement "I hear something…"
"S-Stop it, J…You're scaring me!" Jaden said nervous.
"Oooo-Oooooh!" A sound was heard revealed to be Ukiki the monkey.
"J! It's Ukiki!" Jaden said in surprise
Seeing the monkey holding something J said "That monkey's holding something…." It looked to be a sparkly stage costume.
"That's it!" Jaden said serious "That's the thing 'that means a lot' to Fubuki, remember?"
'Alright! Time to take on this monkey, attorney-style!' J thinks and then said "Give it back, monkey-brain!"
"Oooo-Ooooo-Ooooh!" Ukiki lets out
"That means a lot to Fubuki!" J told the monkey "A real man would…."
"Ooooo-Oo-Ooooh!" Ukiki lets out leaping forward.
"Yikes!" Jaden said jumping in surprise
"WAAAHH!" J lets out and struggles with Ukiki and after a while he runs off. J sighs and said "I tried to have a drone-to-man talk with him…I really did."
"You know….Drone-to-man isn't really accurate. It was more like drone-to-monkey." Jaden said thinking then notices something in J's hands said surprised "J! You…You…"
J holds up the stage costume and said "I swiped it while Ukiki was distracted…"
"Wow! You're really on the ball today, J!" Jaden said smiling. "Let me see it…. Let me see it!"
"Huh? You can see it fine from where you are." J said confused.
"You know what I mean!" Jaden told her "I really want to try on Fubuki's costume! It looks like can can be warn by both genders."
'Maybe then they'll take you in at the circus and I can get some peace and quiet…' J thinks rolling her LED eyes
"Hmm…" Jaden said looking at the costume as he was trying on the jacket.
"What's the matter now?" J asked him.
"It doesn't fit me at all!" Jaden told him as he hands it back to J.
"Oh well, guess it's time for you to lay off the burgers!" J said shrugging. "Not to mention it doesn't look like something anybody I know would actually wear…" She adds Stage Costime to her court record.
The two then head back to the Big Top.
When they arrive back they see Fubuki still there. J gets out the Stage Costume and presents it to her. Jaden smiles and said "Here you go, Fubuki!"
"YAY! THANK YOU! YOU REALLY GOT IT BACK FOR ME!" Fubuki said taking it really excited.
"Don't mention it." J said smiling.
"I love you, Miss. Attorney!" Fubuki said smiling.
J blushes and said "It's…nothing…" she then thinks 'No wonder people melt to much in front of this girl…'
"Hey, Fubuki." Jaden said smiling "This costume is yours, right? I tried it on, but it didn't fit me…"
"Huh? This costume? This isn't mine. It was Pyro's." Fubuki told them.
"Pyro's?" J asked confused.
"You know…The Pyroar she told us about." Jaden said smiling.
'Ohh…The one that someone killed.' J thinks nodding. "Pyro….He was killed, wasn't he?" She asked Fubuki seeing a picture of a Pyroar near where Fubuki put the costume down.
"That's right." Fubuki said nodding "My dad killed him."
"Why?!" Jaden asked shocked.
"Well…Pyro did something really bad during practice." Fubuki said thinking
"During practice?" J asked.
"Pyro was sitting down, and then he opened his mouth. You know….GAAAWWW…" Fubuki explained.
"Uh huh. Uh huh." Jaden said following along.
"Usually when he did that, I would put my head into his mouth." Fubuki explained.
"Uh huh. Uh huh...Wait...You put your HEAD into a Pyroar's MOUTH?!" Jaden said in shocked.
"I sure did." Fubuki said with a nod. "The people in the crowd always loved seeing me do that! They'd always start screaming!"
'You sure they were screaming because they loved seeing you do that?!' J thinks concerned and then said "Anyways…What was the 'bad thing'?"
"Oh yeah. Pyro bit someone during that practice." Fubuki told them.
"F-F-Fubuki! Everything was alright though, right?" Jaden asked shocked.
"No, it wasn't alright…That was the problem. My dad was incredibly angry." Fubuki said shrugging.
"And that's when Pyro…." J began to say.
"Yeah." Fubuki said nodding "That's when he became a star in the sky."
"Poor thing…" J said sadly. She adds Pyro to the court record.
J and Jaden then leave Fubuki and head to the cafeteria.
December 29, Big Top, Cafeteria
As they enter, Jaden sniffs the air smelling something and said "Something smells fantastic! So we know it can't be Krusty…Wait! I know what it is! It's burgers!"
"Hello, hello, hello!" Krusty said giggling "Welcome to the Bistro du Cirque, aka the cafeteria!"
"Mmm…It smells so good in here…And those burgers look great!" Jaden said smiling.
'He's drooling like he's some sort of crazed burger monster!' J thinks.
"My burgers are the best!" Krusty said smiling. "Juicy meat…Toasted buns…Special sauce…They are absolutely irresistible to anyone with a hankering for a burger! One bite will send you into hamburger heaven!"
"I bet! I can tell by the smell." Jaden said smiling.
'Whoa…I'm getting hungry, too! Those burgers must have some kind of special power!' J thinks.
Jaden then concerned asked while having one of the burgers "Now that the Ringmaster is gone, what are you going to do?"
Krusty sighs and said "That's all I've thought about the past two days…Everyone loved Harvey…You've heard Hazel's story, haven't you?"
"Like how he was adopted when he was younger?" J asked.
"He's calmed down a bit now, but he was livid when he heard about the murder." Krusty tells them. "Hazel was so upset that he said he couldn't go on."
"He was that upset?" J asked surprised.
"Yes, he was…Anyways, I gave it some thought." Krusty said looking serious. "Maybe I should give up on trying to be a half-baked clown…I've been thinking of trying on the Ringmaster's shoes…"
"What?! Really?!" Jaden asked shocked.
"Trixie would still be an issue though…" Krusty told them.
"Trixie?" Jaden said.
"She may be a bit mean and hard to work with, but it's hard to argue her importance." Krusty said sighing. "She's probably the reason the circus is still around…A lot of what she says is right."
"Krusty…" Jaden said to that.
"All that's left is to see if everyone can get over the tragedy…" Krusty then said. "You know…"
'The tragedy? You know? What is he talking about?' J thinks surprised she then asked "'Get over' what tragedy, Krusty?"
"Huh?! Don't worry about it…It's nothing. Nothing at all." Krusty said getting defensive.
"He must mean the tragic death of the Ringmaster, right?" Jaden said guessing.
"Yes, Yes! That's it! You're right, boy!" Krusty said chuckling "Dang! Dang! Dang! Correct-o-mundo!"
'Doesn't he mean 'ding'?' J thinks confused and asked "Krusty…I mean no disrespect here, but…Are you lying to us?"
"Egghhh….No! Not at all! What makes you think that?!" Krusty said to her annoyed.
"Just the way you said 'if everyone can get over the tragedy' seemed a bit strange." J explained to him. "It sounded like you were talking about something from a long time ago."
"Eek, eek, eek, eek, eek." Krusty lets out looking down.
"Krusty! I'm right! Aren't I?!" J asked him. Suddenly her Logic Solver Keychain shines in her pocket and the world darkens around her and Krusty and chains appear around Krusty and locked in place by two Psyche-Locks. She thinks 'Hmm…So now we're getting closer to the truth.'
"It was about six months ago…It was just a little accident…" Krusty said sadly. He then laughs and said "Give me a break…Us old men have accidents. I wear big pants for a reason!"
'Six months ago, eh…' J thinks She then summing her Logic Solver Keyblade and said "Take that!" The world darkens and the Psyche-Locks appear as J confronts Krusty on the subject 'Get Over it'? she said "Krusty, please tell us what happened six months ago. What in the world went on at this circus?"
"Okay, okay…There's no need to look so scary when you ask me" Krusty said chuckling "Hey! Look over there! Some juicy burgers! Let's eat instead!"
"Unfortunately, I'm more of a Energon Burger drone myself." J told him.
"Uhhh…" Krusty lets out sadly.
"Actually…I've kind of got an idea of what happened back then." J told him which surprised Krusty. "Krusty, you said something about an accident? This wouldn't happen to be the cause of that accident, would it?" She then presents Pyro's entry in the Court Record to him saying "Take that! I heard a little bit about it from Fubuki. Pyro made a mistake during a practice, right?"
"How did you…?!" Krusty said in shock. J aims her Keyblade and it fires a beam at the right Psyche-Lock destroying it. Krusty sighs and said "I told them so many times… 'You shouldn't be doing such dangerous acts!'"
"Like putting her head inside Pyro's mouth, right?" J asked him.
"Yeah…But Fubuki believed in Pyro." Krusty told her. "She believed so strongly that the Ringmaster went along…He never could say no to her."
"Out of curiosity, who was bitten?" J asked him. Krusty looks down sad and remained silent. "Come on, Krusty! Don't clam up on me now. Who did Pyro bite on the head?"
"Well…Umm…I promised I wouldn't say anything." Krusty tells her.
"You promised?" J asked surprised.
"He's involved in this, too." Krusty told him seriously.
'He's 'involved' huh? Krusty must be talking about…' J thinks and said "Krusty. Is this the person that you promised you wouldn't say anything?" She then presents Hazel's Profile saying "Take that! It must have been Hazel, right?"
"H-H-H-How…How'd you know?" Krusty asked surprised and looking down.
"Don't worry about that, Krusty." J tells him. "Getting to the bottom of this accident may help solve what happened to the Ringmaster."
"No…No way." Krusty tells her.
"I need to know the truth about what happened to Harvey." J tells him "Please tell me what you know."
Krusty looks down sad and said "I'm sorry, Hazel…" J uses her keyblade to destroy the final Psyche-Lock and everything returns to normal as the unlock was successful. Krusty lights a cigar and takes a smoke then said "It's just like you said. You know…The accident."
"Did someone…die?" Jaden asked concerned.
"No, but it would have probably been better if she had." Krusty said sadly.
"What?! How would that have been better?!" J asked shocked.
"She's still alive…But when she got bit, she suffered massive brain damage." Krusty told them. "She'll never recover from the coma that she's in…"
"Coma…?" Jaden asked surprised.
"All she does now is lie in her bed at the hospital." Krusty continued to explain. "And that's all she's ever going to be able to do…"
"I see…" Jaden said. "How is she related to Hazel?"
"She's his sister." Krusty told them.
"Huh?" J said in surprise.
"The person who got bit was Hazel's sister." Krusty repeated.
"S-Sister?" Jaden said in shock, this was new to him and J.
"They were an acrobat team of siblings, Hanzel and Gretal. Cute nicknames that play on their names, I thought…" Krusty said sadly "Anyways, they were an incredible team…Cut down together in their prime…"
"Ummm…Who is Hazel's younger sister?" Jaden asked him.
Krusty shows a pictures of a brown skinned girl looking to be about Fubuki's age and said "Gretchen Rainart…But everyone some times call her by her stage name Gretal. She fell in love with Fubuki. Trying to win her love was her downfall."
'Everyone seems to fall in love with Fubuki…' J thinks.
"Six months ago…While we were practicing…All of a sudden Gretchen blurts out, 'Let me perform with Pyro!'" Krusty began to explain.
"Why'd she do that?" Jaden asked shocked.
"I don't know. But that's what caused the accident." Krusty said shrugging.
We then see a flash back of Gretchen with her head between Pyro's mouth. Gretchen looks surprised from what we see.
"I've never forget that moment…" Krusty said. "It was so strange…Pyro had the weirdest look on his face." We see the Pyroar's face and his eyes was closed and face looked scrunched up "He was...Smiling."
"He? You mean Pyro?" Jaden asked.
"Yes. Pyro. When he bit down, he was smiling." Krusty said with a nod. Pyro in the flashback roars and bites down on Gretchen and Krusty added "Some sick grin…"
We return to the present as Jaden in shock said "No way! That's impossible!"
'A smirking Pyroar….A flying murderer…Why does it seem that it's always Krusty who catches all of these incredible events?' J thinks about it.
"J? Can Pyroars or lions in general smile?" Jaden asked concerned.
"Umm…" J said thinking.
"We never told the police troopers about the incident. The circus would have been shut down if we had." Krusty tells the two. "The next day, the Ringmaster took Pyro out and shot him with a rifle."
"So that's what really happened…" Jaden said nodding sadly.
"Well….You guys were so serious! What was I supposed to do?! I had to tell you!" Krusty said with a laugh. "But all this truthfulness has put me in the mood for a burger!" He hold out a pepper grinder "Here…You two have some pepper!" He shakes it.
'There he goes again, acting like his normal crazy self…' J thinks
"Ahh…Ahh…Ahh…Achoo! Achoo!" Jaden lets out sneezing from the pepper
"Nice! What a wonderful sneeze!" Krusty tells Jaden.
"Huh? You think so?" Jaden asked.
"You sneeze with pepper and slip on a banna peel…That's basic clownsmanship." Krusty said chuckling "Boy, I know you 'Gotti' understand that!"
"J! I think I'd make a good clown!" Jaden said proudly.
"Other than Fubuki, I've never seen a cuter sneezer!" Krusty said chuckling.
"Heh, heh! Does Fubuki sneeze with pepper, too?" Jaden asked smiling.
"She does!" Krusty said nodding "Gretchen would always tease her with pepper!"
"G-Gretchen?" Jaden said sadly.
"From my point of view, those two always looked so perfect together…if Fubuki was to date a girl." Krusty said sadly.
"They looked perfect together, huh?" Jaden said sadly.
J nods and leaves with Jaden, she felt she was almost got all she needs for trial, but she needed a bit more info and knew where to get it, they headed back to Hazel's room.
Hazel sees the two come in and said smiling "Ahh…Miss. J. Back again, I see."
"Well, she did say 'I'll be back.'" Jaden said chuckling "Wait…or was that some other robot?"
'We're back because Hazel's hiding why his legs were injured!' J thinks to herself 'He was hurt in the accident six months ago! It would seem that he knows that we know…'
"Well, well…It seems you've got things you want to talk about, so fire away." Hazel told her.
"Take that!" J said and summons her Logic Solver Keyblade and the world darkens around her and Hazel along with the chains and three Psyche-Locks appear as she confronts Hazel's secret of 'About the Wheelchair' she said "I have to ask you, how were you injured?"
"I'm sorry, I thought we talked about this? It was an accident that happened during practice." Hazel tells her.
"An accident during practice?" J said to that
"Yes. Unfortunately, acrobats are prone to all sorts of injuries." Hazel told her.
'He's lying…If that were the real cause, he'd have no reason to keep it secret.' J thinks to herself and said "Hazel, are you really telling me that a practice accident was the cause of your injury?" She the presents the image of Pyro saying, "Take that!"
"Pyro…" Hazel said upon seeing the picture.
"Six months ago, you were attacked by the Pyroar." J said to Hazel. "That's when you were injured." Hazel looks serious but says nothing, J uses her keyblade to destroy the right Psyche-Lock leaving two remaining and thinks 'I know I'm on the right track. I just need to keep going…'
"You're saying that I was attacked? By a Pyroar?!" Hazel said with a smile and chuckle.
"That's what I'm saying" J tells him.
"I'm sorry, Miss. J, but I'm an acrobat." Hazel tells her. "I'm no animal tamer…If a Pyroar was coming at me, I'd be running for the exit."
"Okay, maybe 'attacked' is not the best word to be using." J said thinking "So let me rephrase that as… 'battled' the Pyroar."
"You seem to enjoy telling jokes… Why would I decide to battle a Pyroar?" Hazel asked chuckling.
"Because you had to fight it. You had to fight it to save someone." J said and presented Gretchen's profile saying "Take that!"
"Gretchen…" Hazel said looking serious.
"It was a shame what happened to your sister six months ago." J said sighing sadly as Hazel remained quiet "You tried to save him, didn't you? And that's how you got that terrible injury." Hazel remains silent and J destroys the left Psyche-Lock with her Logic Solver Keyblade, only one remained.
"Krusty…He must have told you…" Hazel said sadly
"Yes, we learned about Gretchen from Krusty." J said with a sad nod. "But he didn't mention anything about you in regard to the accident. I suppose it was just a slip of the tongue on his part. That's how I figured it out."
"A slip of the tongue?" Hazel asked her.
We then see in the void a vision of Krusty appears saying "Anyways, they were an incredible team…Cut down together in their prime…" The vision fades
"'Cut down together…' That was where he slipped, and that's how I figured it out." J explained. "You two ended up at the centre of the same accident…together, like always."
"I see…" Hazel said with a sad smile, but then added "But an accident is an accident. It wasn't anyone's fault…"
'I still haven't broken Hazel's last Psyche-Lock…This must be one incredibly deep-seated secret…' J thinks and said "'It wasn't anyone's fault…' Do you care to explain more?" Hazel keeps quiet so she adds "Hazel, I know you are still hiding something from me…Maybe someone you don't seem to like much is the reason you're being evasive." She then presents Fubuki's Profile saying, "Take that!"
"F-Fubuki…" Hazel said in surprise looking serious.
"You always seem calm and collected, until you start talking about her." J explained. "Saying things like she is 'cruel'…"
"Well done, Miss. Attorney." Hazel said looking down sadly "You've got quite the set of LED eagle eyes."
"You know…Her tiger tried to attack me…" J told him.
"Raja tried to attack you?" Hazel asked her.
"Twice." J said nodding.
"Haha, hah, hah….He wasn't serious I'm sure…" Hazel said letting out a laugh. "You're not trying to insinuate that I believe she spurred on Pyro to attack Gretchen, are you?" J remained quite bemused at that response and Hazel explained "Pyro was never taught a command to attack people. Fubuki isn't capable of doing anything like that." He sighs looking down and explained "Besides, Fubuki had no reason to want to hurt my little sister. Fubuki and Gretchen were such good friends back then…"
"But you still hate Fubuki!" J told him. "I've got proof of it!"
"What?! What are you talking about?!" Hazel asked surprised.
'Doh! Maybe I overdid it again…' J thinks wincing 'But if I can hand something over to Hazel, maybe it'll…' She then said "Here's proof that you had it out for Fubuki all along!" She then hands Hazel the Note saying "Take that!"
"T-This…Where'd you get it?" Hazel asked surprised.
"Fubuki posted it on the bulletin board in the cafeteria." J explained. "Before that, it was in her pocket."
A vision of Fubuki appears and said "Hmmm…I guess I noticed it was in there around breakfast time." She then said happily "I always take Hazel his breakfast in the morning."
The vision fades and J said to Hazel "You wrote this, and then you put it in her pocket…That's right, isn't it?"
Hazel looks down sadly and said "That's right. Well done, Miss. J…"
J then destroys the final Psyche-Lock and unlocks the secret and the chains retract and they return to the real world .
"My legs were injured by Pyro." Hazel tells the two sadly. "Six months ago. My younger sister, Gretchen, had a dare with Fubuki."
"A dare?" Jaden asked surprised.
"An absurd dare." Hazel added and then quotes his sister saying "'If I can put my head inside of Pyro's mouth like you do…you have to go to the movies with me on a date.'"
"That's insane! Didn't she know how dangerous that is?!" Jaden said in shock.
"We all thought she was being stupid, too…" Hazel said sighing "But that Pyroar was very old to being with, and age brought with it countless experience in doing that very trick. Unfortunartly, this particular time, I guess Pyro wasn't ready or willing."
"And that's when the accident happened?" J asked him.
"She just wanted to take her out…To the movies…" Hazel said sadly.
"Poor Gretchen…" Jaden said sadly.
"When Pyro chomped down, I jumped towards him." Hazel continues to recount and said with a chuckle "Then Pyro attacked me and that's how I ended up…"
"What about Gretchen?" Jaden asked.
Hazel looks down sadly and said "She's still in a coma. I went to the hospital yesterday to visit her."
"I see…" Jaden said looking down.
"I'm still waiting for her to open her eyes again…" Hazel tells the two smiling "And that's the reason why I keep going."
J thinking on it said "Gretchen and Fubuki…"
"They were such great friends." Hazel said with a small chuckle. He then takes out a scarf with some blood on it and said "Oh, yeah…I wanted you to take look at this."
"What is it?" J asked him.
"This is the scarf my sister was wearing when Pyro attacked her." Hazel explained.
"Gross…It's covered in blood." Jaden said looking at it.
"This scarf…It was a present from Fubuki to my sister on the day of the accident." Hazel said smiling.
"Hmm…" J thinks looking at it.
"When he did it, he looked like he was smiling…" Hazel said looking serious.
"He?" J said confused.
"Pyro, obviously." Hazel states.
"Oh!" Jaden said surprised
"When he bit down on Gretchen's head…" Hazel continues "The expression on Pyro's face looked like a grin."
"J!" Jaden said looking at her.
"I know! Krusty said the same thing…" J said nodding.
"What do you think it all means?" Jaden asked thinking.
"I'll be taking the scarf, if you don't mind…" A familiar female voice is heard entering the room. They look to see Courtney.
"Miss. Wittebane?" J said surprised.
"I've already heard everything! So, hand over the scarf." Courtney said holding her hand out.
"But the scarf is evidence in the trial!" Jaden told her.
"That is for me to decide." Courtney countered with. "I think we should begin our preparations now, Hazel."
"Preparations?" J asked confused.
"I've served a summons to Hazel to appear in court tomorrow as a witness." Courtney explained "Hazel, we'll talk more at the Prosecutor's Office."
"Hazel…A witness?!" Jaden said surprised.
"Come, Hazel. Let's go to the office." Courtney told him.
"Yes, ma'am." Hazel said with a nod. The two then leave the room
"Now what do we do, J?" Jaden asked, "How are we going to handle tomorrow?"
"Don't worry about it. I'll figure something out…" J said thinking.
"Look at you all full of confidence!" Jaden said with a smile. "You must have found something you can use!"
'This is all beginning to come together now…' J thinks to herself. Whatever the situation she knows that the accident six months ago relates to this case, she just needs to figure out how and why.
Well all things coming together but J will need to find where all the pieces fit and form a clear picture. The continuation of the trial comes next
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