Ace Attorney: Council of Crime

Part 49 (Buddy)

//February 25, 2030. Gather Law Inc., 1:00 PM//

After the hostages were rescued, I was ordered to take Clarith back home. She clung to my arm most of the way back, sniffling every once in a while. It was more than a little bit obvious that she was stressed out by this whole ordeal. 

"Buddy...?" she asked once we were on the front stoop of GatherLaw. I pulled out my keys and clicked them into the lock. The door opened swiftly. 

"What is it?" I asked, shoving my keys back into my pocket. I walked into the building, Clarith trailing not far behind. 

"You won't let that happen again, right?" Clarith questioned. "Being kidnapped is scary..."

I wrapped her into a hug. "Of course not. The only way that'll happen is if they go through me first," I assured her. 

"Thanks..." Clarith whispered, burying her face into my shoulder. She began to tremble slightly, so I knew that she was crying now.

I led her up to her room, treading carefully on the stairs. I didn't want her to trip and fall. Clarith had been through enough these past few days.

Once we were in Clarith's room, I sat her down on the bed. She wiped her eyes and hugged me when I sat down next to her. 

"Clarith!!"

Neptune came running into the room. She took a seat next  to Clarith and began to cradle her. "It's okay... I'm here..." she whispered into the younger girl's ear.

"Thanks, Nep..." Clarith whispered back. She rubbed her eyes and sniffed again. I dove for a Kleenex box, which I then handed to Clarith. She took out a few of the soft tissues and blew her nose. 

"I'm so glad you're home..." Neptune murmured, rocking Clarith carefully. 

"So am I..." Clarith agreed.

I decided to leave the two to their happy reunion and took this chance to leave the room. I walked down a few more hallways, hoping to go and tell Mr. Wood that Clarith was back, safe and sound. His wife hadn't gotten much sleep worrying over Clarith.

I never got to his office.

In my path, was a pile of parts. A head was a few feet away, near another pile. A second robotic head wasn't far. 

With a cry of anguish, I fell to my knees and began clawing at the parts. They were Stalkuma and Stalkomi disassembled!!

Tears rushing down my face, I ran from the room to get a few tools. I immediately got right to work, pushing familiar pieces together before reaching for a screw or two. After five minutes of my tearful working, I had only gotten Stalkuma's arm and Stalkomi's right leg back together. I was shocked I was working so fast in my panicked haste, honestly. 

Mr. Wood must have heard me, as he walked out of his office. "My, my... Whatever is the problem, Buddy?" He stopped and gasped when he saw my creations broken on the floor. 

"Someone must have done this... Broke them..." I whispered through tears. I rubbed my eyes and reached for a hammer to pound a nail back into the other of Stalkuma's arms. "Byakuya might have done this to mess with me..."

"Oh, I'm afraid that not even he would do something like this. Someone else must have," Mr. Wood told me. 

I looked nearby and noticed what the remaining screws spelled out: KURANIN

I gasped, my hands flying to my face. "The Kuranin did this!" I cried. "One of them must have gotten in here to take them apart!"

"The Kuranin? Do you mean that group of serial killers who has made attempts against various people lately?" Mr. Wood questioned, crouching down to my level.

I nodded violently. "After I get them back together, I have to go and tell the others back at Interpol!"

Mr. Wood stood. "I'll leave that to you." He walked back into the office, clearly not knowing what to do with me while I cried pathetically over the fallen robots.

Not long after, I had put together all of the limbs. Only the bodies left to do... The heads were left intact, thankfully. But that wasn't what I was worried about...

What if the two robots forgot all about what I had done with them? It had been ages since I had made them, and they were the only companions I had to keep my loneliness at bay when I was working at Interpol. I couldn't hang out with Clarith or the strict Neptune while I was working, so I had them. I didn't want them to lose their memories because of the stupid Kuranin!!

I panicked for about two more minutes before returning to my work. Stalkuma's body was back in shape after a few minutes. I got his limbs on in a stunningly short amount of time. I was thankful I had been able to do all of this in such a short span of time. I didn't have time to waste. 

Stalkomi didn't take long. Her limbs went back on much easier than Stalkuma's, which I was thankful for. I got her head on first and then flicked the power switch into an on position.

While I waited for her to boot up, which usually took a few minutes if they had been off for a while, I turned to Stalkuma. I put his head back on and flicked his switch on as well. 

"Master Buddy? Why are you upset?"

I gasped upon hearing the voice. Stalkomi was looking at me with her wide, beady eyes. I gasped and wrapped my arms around here. "You're okay!!"

"I don't remember much... What happened?" Stalkomi asked.

"The Kuranin broke you and Stalkuma," I explained as the latter woke up. I hugged him tightly and got to my feet. "We have to head to Interpol. For all we know, they were here and might still be hiding out somewhere."

"Okaaaaaaaaaaay!" Stalkuma yelled. "Let's go to Interpol!"

I ran for the door, so panicked and unnerved that I forgot to say goodbye to Clarith. Oh well. I probably wouldn't be that long, anyways.

Boy, was I wrong.

--------------------------------------------------------

So a bunch of stuff went down today

1) I finished Curious Village for the second time

2) It's panromantic pride day

3) If you should see a panromantic person, tell them they are great

Thank you guys

-Digital