Psychic Aggression {Ace Attorney and Pokemon Wattys 2016} (Complete)

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November 5th, 8:17 pm
Grand Saffron Hotel

When Edgeworth entered the hotel, two surprises were in order. The first, and potentially more important one, was that the entire place had gone through a severe deep cleaning. Smelling of fresh paint, Edgeworth couldn't help but wonder if the walls had been spot treated, washed, or physically painted. Buffed, the floors shined with wax that illuminated the hardwood. The upholstered chairs were gone, but the hardwood ones that had dining tables in between them had also been shined. Even in the corner stood a bookshelf that Edgeworth had thought was just a cabinet from his previous visits.

The other surprise though, was a little more shocking. Leaning over the counter, talking intently with Mrs. Angel Swan herself, was Phoenix Wright. He leaned close, tugging at his ear as he listened to her. It was a strange action. Edgeworth had seen Wright do it in court before, but never knew what it meant. Hiding the best he could, Edgeworth tried to eavesdrop.

"—se, there has to be some way," Wright muttered.

Swan said, "Mr. Wright. There is nothing that can be done about it at the current moment. Trust me, I would know."

"Why not?" Wright said.

Swan replied in a very quiet voice. Almost to the point that Edgeworth couldn't hear. Even then, he only picked up tidbits. "...a survivor...wanted...go after...kill...unexpectedly, too—dangerous...Sabrina."

"Thank you, Mrs. Swan. I now have 30 minutes to spare to get back to my hotel. I must be going," Wright finished, rather anxiously.

Swan said, as he turned to leave, "Be careful. The cold is ever present, Prosecutor Wright."

Knowing he would get caught any other way, Edgeworth pretended to walk into the hotel without looking.

"Yes of course, I—" Edgeworth slammed purposefully into Wright. "—know."

There was an awkward silence as the blue suited lawyer stood up. Swan cleared her throat. "Welcome back, Mr. Edgeworth. Mr. Wright, it's best that you be going now. Sleeping well is the key to a good day of work."

"Agreed. Once again, thank you very much for your time, Mrs. Swan," Wright said as he exited.

Edgeworth and Angel Swan watched as he left. As soon as he was out the door, she left out a shilling laugh. His body instinctively turned to her as she did, and he watched her toss her ginger hair from before her collarbone to behind her back.

"That was awkward, wasn't it? I suppose it would be, with the two of you facing off against each other in court," she said, brushing the tight-fitting black dress she wore. It was almost a party dress to him. Her make-up had been reapplied.

Edgeworth commented on this. "Are you going to be meeting anyone? You seem awfully dressed up, madam Swan."

"Mr. Edgeworth!" she laughed as she hopped off of the stool she was sitting on behind the counter. "Don't be such a flirt! You shouldn't call a lady you aren't in love with madam. It would be a bad thing if you do. Come, your stomach is growling, what would you like to eat?"

He coughed awkwardly, realizing that his stomach was in fact growling. Deciding to eat he requested, "Filet Mignon. Do you have anything of the sort?"

"Absolutely not!" Swan gasped, making a mock horrified face. She then grew to a serious demeanor and said, "I have T-bone steak, will that be alright? And of course, I'll bill it to the room."

"That will be fine and I think I'll take a whiskey on the rocks, too," Edgeworth finished as she walked off, leaving them in silence. It had been a while since he had a good steak. He had prevented himself from eating them while he was in Europe. He only really liked them best from Outback Steakhouse. Not that anybody he knew would catch him dead there, though.

After a while, Swan came out with two plates. She handed him one with a large steak and helping of broccoli and mashed potatoes. Hers had a smaller, leaner cut of chicken with broccoli and mashed potatoes as well. Edgeworth sat down.

She awkwardly asked, "If it's alright, may I eat with you? I haven't had dinner either."

Edgeworth stood up once more and pulled out a chair for her. "Come, sit. It's been awhile since I've had dinner with company. Almost a year, now."

"Happy to make your acquaintance then, sir. Tell me, how did the investigation go today?" she said, sitting down with her plate.

After sitting down again, he answered, "In terms of the trial, it went well enough. We honestly looked over the victim's files today, but not much of the evidence was useful. The key is the witness testimonies. We need their accounts to create a picture of what happened, if you can understand. At the moment, all I see is Morty pooled in his own blood."

"That's a rather gruesome image to be having while eating steak," Angel Swan commented as she took a bite of broccoli. After swallowing, she continued, "Did you find anything else besides that?"

Edgeworth nodded. "Ah yes, well, I ran into Detective Looker at the library. He took your advice to look elsewhere into his investigation on the Golden Rocket Murder. We worked together on the issue."

"As he should. Did the two of you find anything on it?" she said, cutting into her chicken with a sharp scratch of utensils.

Edgeworth cut into his steak. "We think there might be a connection with Team Rocket."

Angel Swan's knife scratched the surface of her plate as she almost choked on her chicken. Coughing, she took her glass of water and flushed the food down. Taking a deep breath, she gasped.

"I'm sorry," she wheezed, "you just shocked me a little bit."

"Why would that be, Ms. Swan?" Edgeworth asked, raising an eyebrow.

She shivered. "Team Rocket is an organization not be messed with. What in the world would bring you to that conclusion?"

"There are links between the wound in this occasion, the Golden Rocket Murder, and the murder in the jailhouse that proceeded three days afterwards," Edgeworth said.

Swan asked, "How does a wound prove anything?"

"Detective Looker and I also took a look into the history of Team Rocket. It seems like it would be something they would be into, especially since I suspect the victim of the Golden Rocket Murder was a member of Team Rocket. Just as well, there was a piece of black, ripped fabric found on the victim. Team Rocket grunt uniforms are black," Edgeworth explained.

Angel Swan was intent on the conversation. She fiddled with her earrings as she nodded, listening to Edgeworth. She then said as he took a drink, "Could that type of evidence be used in a court of law?"

"No," Edgeworth shook his head, "unfortunately not. Of course, there is a need to investigate further to make sure the evidence should be used, but Detective Looker insists on doing it. He said he would attempt to get Executive Ariana to speak on the matter. To see if she would try to give a statement to the police."

"Wow..." Swan said, almost shaking. Edgeworth took a massive sip of the whiskey. "I can't believe something like this would emerge here...it's absolutely terrifying."

"I could see where you think that," Edgeworth said.

Swan gripped her hands together, pressing the fingertips against each other. "This is not good..."

"Do you still think she's guilty, Angel Swan?" Edgeworth asked as the ice in the bottom of his glass clicked together.

"Yes."

Edgeworth folded the fork and knife onto his plate next to the bone of his steak. He wiped his mouth and slid his chair back. It screeched against the fresh cleaned floor. He couldn't help it. Edgeworth was suddenly tired. The weight of the investigation pounded down on his shoulders and chest, pinning him down. He couldn't stay up any longer.

"Hmph, I will prove it to you then," Edgeworth said. "I bid you adieu. Good night, Mrs. Swan."

"Sleep well, Mr. Edgeworth," Swan returned.

He hardly noticed the elevator trip up to his room. The entire way to his room and changing into his pajamas had been in a haze. And, when he slept, instead of the normal nightmares, the voice of his own yelling was added to the gunshots in court.