Here is the Phoenix Wright fanfic I mentioned in my introductory post. Or the one I am currently working on now, at least. If you have any comments, ideas or suggestions, feel free to say so and I’ll take it into consideration. Thank you for your time of reading and I hope you enjoy what I have as this progresses.

Title: Turnabout Knockout
Author: Kunio-kun (Jay M.)
Rating: PG.
Genre: The usual
Status: In-progress
Summary: A boxer stands accused of murdering a sports journalist, and Phoenix Wright is called in to help him. However, in the process, he will find that there is more than meets the eye...

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The crowd is screaming... the crowd is cheering...

A hard right hook is thrown, and a fierce body jab is returned...

A left to the side of the temple, and in retaliation, another right hook.

Two men in a boxing ring are clashing with their gloved fists in a struggle to determine the true winner of the match. Trading blows as fast as lightning... neither of the two men in the ring were letting up. They then lock in a hold! A referee jumps in and separates the two boxers before calling for them to resume their match.

They are soon back to trading blow-for-blow once again. A hard left jab, a killer body blow... the punches just don’t stop coming. But then... one of them makes a mistake! He misses his punch!

Taking this moment to capitalize, the other guy goes in for the final blows. He hits him with several punches nonstop before finishing with a powerful uppercut!

This causes the other boxer to go down to the canvas, his body slamming into the ring’s floor and laying there... the referee begins counting down! 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9...

...10!! It’s over... the match is over.

“He’s won! Mike Bryon has won the match!” The spectator calls, “Oh, what a wild match that was! Wasn’t it, Hal?” He then asks to his partner.

“You bet, Jeff, it was quite a spectacular fight,” He replied, “These two men squared off with nothing but fire in their eyes and light in their spirits... truly a sight that boxing fans will cherish.”

The crowd is roaring... The crowd is hollering...

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“Wow... what amazing fights!” Cried one girl with long black hair that was topknotted in the back. She was clad in a spirit medium’s clothes, for that matter. “So that’s what boxing is like, huh? It’s even more fun to watch it in person!”

“Wasn’t it?” Said another girl who came along... a girl dressed much like a scientist, wearing red glasses on her head and with some of her long brown hair bunned up on top in the back, “It was a real thrill, wasn’t it Maya?”

“It’s more fun than watching it on TV!” She then turned to a man dressed in blue who’s familiar black spiky hair stretches out from the back of his head, “Don’t you think so too, Nick?”

“Huh?” The man in the blue suit and red tie who was addressed just now had his attention elsewhere, but he soon regained himself and quickly answered, “Yeah, it was pretty nice.”

“What? That’s all you can say about it?! Come on, Nick, don’t be lame.”

“Wh...what’s that supposed to mean?” He then asked.

“Man, old people just don’t get excited as easily as they used to...”

“Hey, I resent that.”

“So, are we headed back home?” Ema then asked.

“Yeah, sure...” All three of them were headed toward the bus they came in that night, which was sitting next to the bus stop which appeared to have just returned for it's pick up route. As they headed for it, walking down the large parking lot around the arena, Phoenix began to recall, in a summary, the events of the day prior to going to the event, (One time, when I was little, I wanted to become a boxer... I remember watching all those fights on TV, too... of course, later on I decided I had grown out of wanting to be one, I just couldn’t keep up with all the training I’d have to do.)

Once they reached the bus, Phoenix climbed in and quickly found a seat to sit down in. Maya and Ema themselves followed suit, sitting in the seat behind him. Several more people soon came in, moving into the bus and, of course... finding their own seats to sit in.

(We received the tickets to the fights from Gumshoe. He said he won them in a contest he got involved in, but he said he couldn’t go due to his work, so he gave them to us. I figured I might as well make use of them.) He then looked at Ema in the seat behind him, who was talking about the events of the matches with Maya, (Ema had come to visit us, having gotten some time to do so. So I brought her along with me and Maya. I wonder how her progress in her own career has been...)

Soon, they were driving off, leaving the parking lot to head back home, (I had no idea that the following day I was going to be involved in yet another case though. Especially when I was beginning to enjoy my time off...)

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I'll update this when I can. May take me a while because I have quite a lot of my own things to take care of.

EDIT: Forgot Phoenix doesn't know how to drive. Fixed. Sorry about that!

Last edited by Kunio-kun on Fri Sep 21, 2007 3:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

1.Pretty good job!
2.What's the time period for this?
3.When did Phoenix learn to drive?

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Well... let's see, I think... I centered this happening in between after Turnabout Big Top and before Farewell, My Turnabout.

Also... I think I may have forgotten... Phoenix doesn't know how to drive, does he? I'll fix that up right away!

I pretty much went ahead and got the second part done while I could. I hope I'm doing okay. Please enjoy.

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Not too long in the day that transpired after last night did an odd old man pay a visit to the Wright and Co. Law Offices. The old man in question, of course, was dressed in a blue sweater and blue sweatpants, wearing a blue cap on his head. His old gray hair spiked out in the sides, and he had furious looking slits for eyes... which bore right into whoever he stared at.

He had to have been at least one and a half heads shorter than Phoenix, which made him all the more unusual looking. Especially coming into the office with what he was wearing...

“That good-for-nothin’ lazy bum... he up and goes and gets himself caught!” He growled, “I swear, if I weren’t around he’d be nothin’. NOTHIN’!!”

“...yeah.” Phoenix just stared blankly at him... “...I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“...” The old man just stood there and bore his stare into him before speaking once more, “Sorry. It’s a part of getting old. You tend to ramble at random times.”

“Now, uh... who are you and why are you here?”

“Who am I? Hmph. You really want to cut to the chase, ya bum? Okay, listen up. Open up those ears. I’m Nick “Nails” Steele...” He then leans forward, clinching his fists in passion, “Because I’m tough as nails, see?! TOUGH AS NAILS!!!” And then, he began to relax, “I may be an old man, but I can whip you into shape in no time flat. You get that, ya bum? DON’T UNDERESTIMATE ME!!”

“Uh, s-sure.” Phoenix then chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head... “Now... about the second part of my question...”

“I WAS GETTING TO THAT!!! Don’t rush me, ya bum!!” The old man then folded his arms over his chest, “I need to clear the name of that good-for-nothin’ bum I’m managin’!”

“I see... just what happened?”

“Don’t you read the news!? What a bum. READ THE NEWS MORE OFTEN! Sheesh!”

(Hey, come on, gimme a break...) Thought Wright, (Not everyone can keep up with everything...)

“Listen up...” Nails said, “This should be fairly obvious, even for you... he was accused of murder. He was accused of killin’ a sports journalist!”

“I can safely assume you’ve come to me to hire me to help do just that?”

“Pretty much. I want you to bail that good-for-nothin’ bum out. This would be devastating to his career!” He then clinched his fist and furrowed his brow intensely again, “DEVASTATING!! Do you get that, ya bum?! He’s lived his life as a boxer since day one! And if this destroys his good reputation, then he ain’t ever gonna be respected again!!”

“Yes yes. First of all, Mr. Steele, let’s take a deep breath and relax...”

“You call me NAILS, ya bum. NAILS!! Don’t forget it!”

“Right... Mr. Nails. Anyways, let’s make with the deep breathing and the relaxing... I’ll see what I can do, and I’ll help him out. Okay?”

“You better. I’m not going to pay you for being a lazy bum!!” He then said, pointing at Wright, “Got it? Good. Now... you should be able to find him in the Detention Center, so you better get your butt over there and speak with him.”

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to tell me what happened?”

“Listen, mac, I would if I could, but there’s a problem.”

“A problem?”

“A big problem. He doesn’t remember!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I DON’T KID, YA BUM!!” He then yelled, “But hopefully, somethin’ will get his memory going. It has to. I tried to get him to remember myself, but unfortunately he can’t remember a whole lot of what transpired that day other than his match.
Anyways, just try not to mess up, got that? The last thing I want is leavin’ this case in the hands of some incompetent bum of a lawyer! So you better work hard! Or you’ll never hear the end of it from me,” He then leans toward Phoenix, “YA GOT THAT, YA LAZY BUM!?”

“Alright, alright, I got it already! You can count on me.”

“That’s better. Anyways, I’ll be off. I’ve got business to take care of, so you do your part.”

Maya Fey, his assistant, would then come in, along with Ema... just as the Nails was leaving. Phoenix sighed as he sat down in a chair and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, “That old man sure can yell... I could hear him clear from outside!” Maya laughed, “So, Nick, what’s up? You got another case?”

“Pretty much...” Came his reply.

“Hmmm, another case...” Ema moved her glasses down around her eyes, smiling, looking quite excited herself, “...is that so. Hey! I haven’t seen you in action again since I left... I’d like to see how you handle these things once again. Lemme come along, please? Besides... who knows, you may need my help too!”

(Come to think of it... she was a big help in the case I helped solve... the SL-9 Incident.) Wright thought as he noted the enthusiasm in her voice, (...I couldn’t have figured much out if it hadn’t been for her. What a terrible case that was...)

He began to have flashbacks of the time Lana Skye kept proclaiming herself the true killer... when Ema herself testified about what she saw... facing off against Damon Gant... if there was any case for him that was as scary as when he took on the DL-6 Incident, it was SL-9 that ranked pretty close as second for him.

(...damn it... that only reminded me even more of Edgeworth...)

He then began to recall Edgeworth’s role in the entire case... and in the SL-9 Incident itself in the past... but he didn’t get very far on that thought.

“Hey! Nick!” Maya then shouted, getting his attention and ending his flashbacks, “Are you okay? You suddenly began to turn all pale.”

“No no, I’m fine. Don’t worry...” With a smile, he rose up from his chair and stretched for a moment, grunting in the process, “Well... let’s see... visiting hours should be open today. Let’s go see our client, shall we?”

Maya smiled, gesturing to the door, “Ladies first,” She said to Phoenix, who began to walk out the door when he suddenly realized... “Hey!” he cried. Ema only let out a chuckle at Maya’s joke.

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Having made their way to the Detention Center, Phoenix, with Maya and Ema, entered to speak with his client... he made sure to check if he was there before asking to speak with him, and the officers proceeded to get their meeting set up.

“So, he forgot where he was that night?” Asked Maya, looking a bit worried, “This doesn’t sound good.”

“Obviously... if I can’t get him to remember anything, I’m in hot water for sure.” Phoenix sighed, “Great, this just makes my whole job easier...” Well, in spite of things, his sarcasm was already apparent.

“Oh, that must be him now,” Ema then said, noting a man who entered the room behind the glass, sitting down in a chair. Phoenix noticed him too, then proceeded to do the same on his own end.

The man in question looked quite scraggly. He had a shaggy mop of messy blond hair that fell down to the length of his neck in the back with matching sideburns, and tied over his forehead was a hachimaki headband. He was also wearing powder blue sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt of his own, both of which had a pattern of black trim lines moving along on the shoulders and thighs. The back of the sweatshirt, of course, had a hood in the back, his sleeves rolled up past his elbows. Aside from that, he did seem fairly muscular.

He just sat there, staring at Phoenix blankly with his sad looking eyes... just... staring ahead at him.

“Uh... hello?” Phoenix asked.

“.....” He didn’t answer. Just continued to stare. Then he folded his arms, rubbing the few scraggly, wiry hairs on his chin as he began to think, turning his head off to the side. He looked pretty intent in thought...

“...sir?”

“...oh!” The man then turned back to Phoenix, laughing nervously, “I-I’m sorry... I was just trying to remember what some people say in greeting... um... how was it... Good night?”

“You say good night to people at bedtime...”

“Oh... oh, right!” He then said, “Um... good evening?”

“It’s the afternoon.”

“Oh right! Yeah! Okay! Good afternoon.”

“I’m Phoenix Wright, attorney at law. Your manager asked me to take to your case.”

“M-my suitcase? Wh-what would you need it for?”

“I said your CASE!” He then grumbled, “Don’t you remember? He said you were arrested on suspicion for murder.”

“Mur...murder? Really?!” The scraggly man asked, “Is... that why I was arrested? For real? Wow... that sounds serious.”

“Of course it’s serious. And you are?”

“.........” The scraggly man turned away in thought again before turning back to Wright, “...I forgot.”

“WHAT?! How could you forget your own name?!”

“...oh wait! I remember. I’m sorry.” The man laughed, “I’m Joe Demps. I’m an up-and-coming heavyweight boxer!” He then paused in thought for the third time, rubbing his chin, “Everybody also likes to call me ‘Forgetful Joe’... but I forget why.”

(Apparently he’s forgotten how obvious it is...)

“Anyways, um! Mr. Fright...”

“It’s Phoenix Wright.”

“Mr. Bright...” He then said, “Y-you’ll help me, right? Um... cause, like... if I’m guilty... then, I think that might look really really bad on my career... so... um...”

“Of course. Your manager wanted me to help get you out of this mess. Now... do you think you could start by telling me what happened on the night of the murder?”

“Well, um...” Joe paused and thought hard for a moment or two before finally answering, “...y’see, I...”

“You forgot, didn’t you.”

“Most of it... but, lemme try to remember, okay?” He struggled for a while more, then managed to remember something, “Okay! So, like... I think... I was arrested some time after all the fights were over... around 10:45 PM or so. I looked at my watch recently before I was picked up, so that’s how I can remember it. This all went on over at the Hyperdome Arena, by the way, while everyone was cleaning up...”

“What were you doing then?” Phoenix then asked him.

“Ummm...” he struggled to think again... “...I... forgot.”

“Wonderful...” (If he’s this bad at remembering things now, I dread how he’ll fair when he’s an old man.)

“But... Mr. Kite! Ya gotta believe me... I didn’t kill anyone! Honest!” Pleaded a rather distressed Demps, “I-I don’t have a murderous bone in my body! I’d never do anything so violent.”

“Are you sure you didn’t forget about killing anyone last night, Mr. Demps?”

“Of course!! I know I’m not a murderer! Really!!”

With the way he was speaking about this, Demps didn’t seem to be forgetting anything on that or lying... so Wright believed him. He didn’t really look the murderous type anyway, and his manager did say he was innocent...

“Alright. Now, do you think you can remember what else may have happened that night?” Wright asked him.

“Well... ummm, just that I had my own match last, and that there were 4 matches. One was for the championship title... one of the guys recently won that.” Demps then said, “Ummm, and, I know this is irrelevant, but I think not too long ago, like, a week before, I won a trophy.”

“A trophy? What kind was it?”

“A ‘best amateur’ trophy.” Demps added, “The best thing I can ever remember anyway is boxing, and I’m hoping someday I’ll become a champ too!”

(I dunno how much good it is, but he can at least remember that...)

“Anyways, Mr. Night... you’ll help me, right? Um... cause, like... if I’m guilty... then, I think that might look really really bad on my career... so... um...”

“You already asked me that!”

“I did? I... forgot...” Demps said, nervously laughing as he rubbed the back of his head.

(I wish I could forget this was ever happening!)

“Maybe we should head down to the crime scene and investigate further.” Ema suggested, “It might be a good idea at this point.”

“Pretty much... now, where was it...?”

“The Hyperdome Arena.” Maya said, “Hehe... you’re starting to become as forgetful as he is.”

“Ack! Then we better get there quick then...” (Before his contagious forgetfulness spreads to me!) He then turned to Demps, “In the meantime, please try to remember anything that transpired last night, okay? Your life is on the line in this.”

“I-I’ll try! ...ummm, what’s that word when I’m in gratitude for someone...”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“No, I mean... argh, nevermind.” Sigh a heavy sigh, Wright headed off with the two girls to catch a bus to the Hyperdome Arena... “Hopefully we can find some clues there to help us solve this case.”

Last edited by Kunio-kun on Tue Sep 25, 2007 5:22 am, edited 3 times in total.

Hillarious!! Nails and Demps are hillarious! By the way, Joe Demps-is this name a pun?

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This is great stuff. Keep it up! :D

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Not necessarily... although it's a bit of a reference to a real life boxer's name if you look hard enough. :) It just might not be as obvious as some...

Here we go, the third part of the story. I'll try and start on the next one when I can. I'm still working some things out on this so I hope I can find enough things to run on. In the meantime, please feel free to read and enjoy the story at current, and as usual feel free to leave any comments if you so wish to. I hope I am doing well, and I hope you enjoy it. :)

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After having taken that bus to get there (which took a while since they had to wait for it to get there, of course), the party of three eventually reach the parking lot which they were quickly made familiar with when they first came last night. Since there wasn’t anything going on, obviously, there really weren’t any cars around.

“Boy, just looking at this big wide lot makes one feel lonely, huh?” Maya asked, “Not a car in sight.”

“Most likely all the cars that belong to the staff are in the employee parking lot,” Ema said, “They’re probably still here to get other things set up for any future events.”

“I’ve always wondered how much work it takes to get an arena set up...” Maya then thought openly .

“It’s a lot of hard work, I’m sure...” Phoenix said. He began to walk towards the arena in the distance, with the Ema following... Maya, who just stood there thinking about all that hard work that was mentioned, hadn’t realized it yet herself... of course, she did soon after the other two were taking off without her and ran over to catch up with them, “Hey!! Don’t leave without me!” She shouted.

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It was a big lot... it took at least a couple minutes for them to reach the entrance. Upon entering, there was as much loneliness as you could gather in the main entrance as you could the parking lot. You could see the various snack stands spread out, with various corporate food franchises included in the mix. There were also tables for those who wanted to sit by and eat. And of course, restrooms.

“It doesn’t look like anyone here is taking care of the food stands here.” Phoenix observed.

“Hmmm... hey Nick!” Maya then said with a sly grin, “With no one taking care of the food stands... do you think they would mind if I swiped a soft pretzel to snack on?”

“There’s security cameras around, there’s no way you would get away with that!” He then responded, “Besides, there’s really no food in there anyway. They must have cleared all of it away so that it wouldn’t spoil.”

“Awwwww....” The spirit channeler hung her head in disappointment.

“Besides, didn’t you already eat a snack on the way here?” Ema asked.

“Hey! I have a big appetite. It wasn’t enough to fill me,” She responded with a grin, looking over at Wright, “Hey, we can eat after our investigation is over, right?”

“Yeah, sure...” Phoenix responded.

“So, where do we look first?” Ema enthusiastically asked, adjusting the red glasses she had on her head, “I’m ready to aid you with whatever you need. Speaking of which...” Ema then reaches into her satchel and pulls out the luminol bottles, “Remember this? I brought a couple with me today just in case we may need to do any scientific investigating.”

“The luminol spray?” Phoenix asked. Maya looked on in interest.

“Yeah. You remember how to use `em, right?” Skye then reached in and pulled out a couple glasses much like hers, “You wear these and you spray the area for any traces of blood. Just because they wipe it from the scene doesn’t mean it’s entirely gone. It’s like leaving fingerprints on the trail.”

“Wow, cool!” Maya immediately grabs a pair of glasses and tries them on herself, “Hey Nick, how do I look? Do I look neat or what?”

“Ahhh, you look kind of goofy.” He said with a grin.

Maya puffed her cheeks in a bit of an annoyed way, “What? What do you mean by that?”

“Hey, I’m just kidding. Think of it as a gentle payback for your ‘ladies first’ joke.”

“Hmph.”

“Why don’t we start looking around in the locker rooms? Maybe we could gather something there.” Ema suggested. She had her glassed down over her eyes and her luminol spray at the ready, looking quite eager to test it out on just about anything.

“Sounds like a good idea to me...”

---

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The locker rooms were what Phoenix wanted to check out first. He figured it would be the best place to start... the Locker Room was big and spacious, preferably for plenty of people who were to perform in the events. In this case, it housed the boxer’s belongings. At current, it seemed rather empty. The lockers, which were big and bright red in color, sat next to benches, and spanned for several rows and columns.

“This must be the Locker Room that all the boxers kept their stuff in last night,” Ema said, “It certainly looks pretty lonely in here too, doesn’t it.”

“Hey, look!” Almost immediately, Maya noticed something and turned to it, “This must be...”

This got the others’ attention well, and then turned to look in her direction. Sure enough, there was police tape around one of the columns, the yellow and black texted “Do Not Cross” style tape hanging in plain view. Upon inspection, one of the locker doors was open and there appeared to be a few signs of a struggle.

“...this must be... the crime scene.”

“Oh, yeah?” Ema grinned, “Hey, this is a good chance... let’s--”

“DON’T CROSS THAT LINE!!” Yelled a familiar voice, much to everyone’s surprise. Sure enough, a man came running in, stopping right in front of the group. A gruff but friendly looking fellow wearing a green trenchcoat, a red tie, and an old shirt tucked into his black pants. His black hair spiked at one end, and he had a pencil in between one of his ears.

Upon recognizing Phoenix, the man grinned, “Oh, it’s you, pal! Ha, I shoulda figured you were gonna show up here.”

It was none other than Detective Dick Gumshoe in the flesh. The poor Detective who loved his work despite his mistakes and acted as both a friend and a rival to Wright. He was as valuable an ally as he was an enemy in many of his cases.

“Good afternoon, Detective,” Maya greeted with a smile.

“How’ve you been?” Ema then asked, also remembering him.

“Oh, hey! Is that you, Ema?” Gumshoe laughed lightly upon seeing her, “I thought so. Haven’t seen you in a while ever since that SL-9 case.”

“I’ve been busy,” She said, “But I’ve come over to visit my friends... I had some time off.”

“I see! Heh...” Gumshoe then looked over at Phoenix, “So lemme guess... you’ve taken that Demps’ guy’s case?”

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here now would I?” Came his answer.

“And you’ve come here to do investigatin’ on the case, huh?”

“Same answer as the last.”

“Well, you’re outta luck as usual, pal!” He then grinned, “Cause I’ve got my orders, see? Not to let anyone get by these yellow lines!”

“Of course.”

“But I suppose it can’t hurt to let you in on a few details... not that it’s gonna help you much.”

“Why’s that?”

“All the evidence so far points right to Demps. Furthermore...” Gumshoe then looked around for a moment, almost nervously, to make sure the coast was clear, and then lowered his voice, “...that crazy Von Karma’s on the case again.”

“You mean Franziska?”

“Yeah...” He let out a great, big sigh, “But fortunately, she’s not here today... I can rest assured that I’m not going to be on the receiving end of her whip today! Or at least... I hope so.”

“How is she doing anyway?”

“Oh, man... it’s like Hell has come up to greet me in person... when you beat her in that last case, she has been cursing you since...” He then lowers his head again, “And she’s makin’ me suffer for it... I dunno how much longer my salary is going to survive like this, pal.”

(So Franziska’s on the case again...) Wright thought, (Great. I wonder if she’s still going to go through with her “revenge” on Edgeworth like she said, and if she wants to defeat me in court. Well, I have to admit, she’s pretty persistent...)
“Anyways, can you tell me about the victim, Detective?” He then asked.

“Sure, pal.” Gumshoe said, smiling again, glad to get his mind off of his troubles, “The victim was Jem Menai, the sports reporter.” He then handed out a profile picture of the woman. She looked fairly pretty, with short collarbone length black hair parted to one side and wearing a red suit and blue tie. “She worked for the sports magazine called ‘Sports International’, it’s one of the most widely read sports magazines in circulation.”

“I see...” Phoenix nodded, following along.

“She was found dead around the time Joe Demps was arrested,” The detective continued, “We discovered her body stuffed in Demps’ own locker, perhaps in his attempt to try and hide her body. Furthermore, we found the murder weapon hidden inside too and some incriminating evidence!”

“What was the murder weapon, Detective?”

“This.” Gumshoe then produced a boxing trophy, which had signs of dried blood around the bottom, “This is a boxing trophy awarded to the best of the amateur boxers. And we’ve already analyzed it, pal!” He said with a grin, “Not only does it have Demps’ fingerprints all over it, but it’s got the victim’s blood.”

The trophy in question was made of a marble block, with a golden statue of a boxing glove on the top attached to an arm, as if uppercutting into the air. On the marble was a little gold plaque which had Joe Demps' name engraved on it, the month and year received, and what the award is. Wright noted it's appearance.

“Do you have a copy of the autopsy report yet?”

“Well, not exactly... we’re still lookin’ into how she was killed, but some of the men suspect she was struck pretty hard with this weapon and busted her skull open with enough force to kill her.”

“By the way, you mentioned some ‘incriminating evidence’... what is it?”

“Well, pal, we found something in Demps’ locker that proves he had motive enough to kill her.”

“A...motive?”

“Yep! This...” Gumshoe then pulled out a small plastic bag of white powder.

“White powder?” Maya asked.

“Cocaine.” Gumshoe corrected, “And fresh, too.”

“!” Phoenix’s eyes widened... not because of the surprise of finding cocaine, mind you, but because this did not look good for his case... although the surprise of finding that stuff did actually surprise him a little bit, though it was mostly because this was really looking bad for Joe.

“Are... you sure that bag belongs to Demps, sir?” Ema then asked him.

“Wellllll... unfortunately, we didn’t find any fingerprints on the bag. We figure he must have handled them with gloves. He was playin’ it smart.” Gumshoe then grinned, “But we found it in his locker, so there’s no way he can run away with this in our evidence!”

(This does not look good. Like, at all!) Immediately, Phoenix kept notes of these in the court record.

“And if that wasn’t enough... we have an eyewitness to the entire crime.”

(Great, just what we need. An eyewitness.)

“Unfortunately for you, pal, I can’t disclose any information on that eyewitness,” Gumshoe said with that recurring grin, which would then turn fierce, “And whatever you do, don’t you dare go and see him in the training room!”

“Why’s that?”

“Oh, no reason...” Gumshoe said, turning his head to the side, “Just that you probably won’t get much out of him anyhow.”

(Somehow I doubt that.)

“Anyways, this is one case you’re not gonna win, pal! But hey, try your best, alright?” Gumshoe chucked, “Good luck anyways, just to show you no hard feelings. Oh, and by the way...” He then reached into his coat and pulled out a copy of the Hyperdome Arena’s map, handing it to the lawyer, “Take this. This place is pretty big, so you don’t want to get lost.”

“Thanks, Detective.” Phoenix said, placing the map in his suit pocket. (Unfortunately for you, I’m going to be looking into that eyewitness you spoke of. No offense, Gumshoe.) Phoenix began to head off, with Ema and Maya following. Ema, however, as they left the locker room, looked a bit disappointed.

“Hey, we could have tried to get permission from Gumshoe to examine the crime scene...” She said.

“I know Gumshoe... there’s no way he’d let us get by him if he’s on the prowl around there.” Wright explained.

“Ohhh, I get it... we’ll come back later then!” Maya chirped with a wry grin.

“So what do we do from here?”

“I want to look into that eyewitness Gumshoe talked about. He said he was in the training area... so let’s head there next.”

Last edited by Kunio-kun on Mon Sep 24, 2007 5:01 am, edited 2 times in total.

Still pretty good, I'm liking this.

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Going ahead and continuing the story. I'll make improvements if need be, if I find any or need to revise anything. So don't worry too much about that (after all, sometimes you need to fix things to make `em better!)

Enjoyz. :O

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The training room... a spot that was set up for boxers to keep in practice before their match began and to get ready for the opposition. It was a rather large room, and there were also a few weight lifting machines in the area as well as a large punching bag that was hanging from the ceiling, as well as a few sparring helmets strewn about. In the middle of the room was a small squared ring for sparring. There were many other things in the place, as well as a soda machine in one corner of the room and a television in another.

“This must be the training area. It looks pretty well taken care of here,” Ema said, glancing all around the room.

“Hey lookit!” Maya noted the punching bag, then ran over to it. After a brief moment of examination, she cocks her fist back and lets her strongest punch fly into the bag, causing it to sway back and forth somewhat. “Hey, Nick!” She then said, turning to Phoenix, “I bet you could have a pretty mean right hook. Why don’t you give punching it a try?”

“No thanks, I think I’d only shatter my fist.”

“Aw, you’re no fun, Nick.”

“YO, WHAT’S UP?!?!” Suddenly yelled a loud, booming voice. This startled, Maya, causing her to fall down. Ema nearly jumped, and Phoenix himself swiftly turned around to the direction of the voice.

There, standing before the group from out of nowhere was a large, muscular black man (or african-american if you prefer to get technical), who had to at least stand almost a full head taller than Wright. He was wearing a black tanktop shirt and his boxing trunks, which were red with a white trim with matching boots. He also had on red boxing gloves as well, and a silver chain around his neck. Additionally, he had at least 4 blond mohawks for a hairstyle... the two in the middle were smaller than the ones between them.

Whoever he was, he was almost intimidating, but he did seem friendlier than he looked...

“Hey, yo, I wasn’t expectin’ other people here. Nice to meet ya.” He then said with a grin.

“OH!!!” Maya gasped as she pushed herself up onto her feet, noticing the man, “You’re...”

“Hold it!” He said, stopping Maya’s sentence short, “Don’t finish that sentence, cause I know whatcha gonna say!” He then punches the air rapidly a few times with an intense look on his face, “YEAH! I know whatcha gonna say!! I’m that guy, right?! Well, I’m not just some guy! Hohooo, no! I am... the one... the only... and the proud All-American...” And then then executes a very swift uppercut, almost in a flashy way, “MIKE BRYON!!! Woo! How about that!?” He grins from ear-to-ear, revealing that he had a tooth missing, “And you are are in the presence of that very guy!! Yeah! Mm! You don’t get many chances like that, now do ya?!”

(I wish I didn’t have the chance to meet you at all.) Phoenix thought, buggered by this man’s spastic energy.

“M-Mike Bryon!” Maya cried, running over to him, “Wow, you’re a lot bigger in person...”

“Dat’s right, kiddo!!” Bryon then punches at the air rapidly again, “Ooh! I’m a big guy! Because I eat healthy, exercise, and don’t do drugs!! YEAH!!! Ain’t that cool?!”

(Could you please not swing your fists around while you’re right in front of me? Thank you VERY much.) Thought Wright again, not wanting to be on the receiving end on those punches even if they weren’t meant to strike him.

“He certainly isn’t modest, is he?” Ema whispered to Wright.

“No kidding...”

“Could I have your autograph!?” Maya then asked him.

“Sure kid! SURE!! Bryon’s always glad to sign for a boxing fan or otherwise! Gimme dat paper! YEAH!! I’ll autograph the heck out of it!” Maya handed him a piece of paper, which Bryon then proceeded to sign after he took out a marker and write his name down for her before giving it back.

“I watched your fight last night, you were really amazing!” Maya blurted out just then, looking up at him.

“THAT’S RIGHT!!” The large boxer shouted, “Ungh! Hoo! Amazin’! That’s what I am and what I shall be. Mike Bryon the Amazing! I like the sound of that. It sounds great, don’t you think!?”

“Yeah! It sure is, Mr. Bryon!” Maya nodded.

“WOO!!! Yeah!! That’s right, girlie! The one and only Mike Bryon is unstoppable! Ya hear? UNSTOPPABLE! Oh yeah!! Nothin’ can stop me now!”

“Yeah! Nothing can stop you at all, you’re unbeatable!”

(Argh, don’t encourage him!)

“Okay! So!” Bryon then turned to Phoenix, “Who’re you? Are you the father of these two girls or somethin’?”

“What!? Of course not!” He cried, “I’m Phoenix Wright, attorney.”

“Oh? An attorney, eh? Hm! Hoho! Okay then. Well, you all’re here for a reason so why don’t you up and tell me?! Hm?! YEAH! Go ahead!! Tell Bryon what you’re here for!! Ask me anythin’ ya want! I’m ready!! Ungh!”

(This guy is too energetic for his own good.)

“Have you heard about what happened, Mr. Bryon?” Ema asked the man, “About the murder?”

“The murder?! THE MURDER! Yeah! I know all about it, man! I read all about that murder in the paper, you know!” He said, clinching a gloved fist, “Hm! I heard that sports journalist got killed! It’s a real pity, you know. It’s a crying shame! You get that? A CRYIN’ SHAME!”

“Ya don’t say...” Phoenix added, already getting exasperated by Bryon’s enthusiasm.

“Oh, I do say, little man! I do say! Real tragic, it was! Poor Menai... she didn’t deserve to die that way, and so soon! It’s just not fair. Just not fair, I tell ya!”

“Did you happen to know Menai?”

“Ha! Hoh! Know her? Hmmm... yeah!! She was a cute thang! And sweet, too! Almost too sweet... she’d never heckle you with unnecessary questions at all!” Bryon then jabs at the air some more, “UH! Huff! I can’t imagine why anyone’d wanna off the girl! How terrible, man. How terrible.”

“Were you interviewed by her any?”

“Sure was, dude!! Haaa! It was a great interview, it was, no joke, man!!” Bryon enthusiastically said, “We got so caught up in talkin’ at one point that we went off course on what we were originally talkin’ about!! She was the kind of reporter that lets you know she’s an everyday person too on the inside, just like anybody! Ho!”

“Huh, she must have been a really nice person, wasn’t she?” Maya then asked.

“You bet, girlie, you bet! You don’t meet many people like that! Not at all! No sirree!! And ya know what? I just can’t believe someone would kill her... that dude better be lucky I don’t get my hands on him...” Bryon suddenly starts jabbing madly at the air, “CAUSE I’M GONNA GRAB THAT SUCKER AND BASH HIS TEETH OUT, THEN I’M GONNA BEAT THE GARBAGE OUTTA THAT TURKEY AND TEACH `IM A LESSON!! BAM!!!” He then uppercuts the air, “THAT’LL TEACH HIM TO KILL POOR DEFENSELESS WOMEN! YEAH!!”

(Have you ever heard of an “ inside voice”? You should try it sometime.) After that bit of sarcasm to himself, Phoenix let out a sigh and glanced intently to Bryon, “Mr. Bryon... do you think you could tell us where you were on the night of the murder?”

“Sure, man! Okay! So, you wanna know where ol’ Bryon was at the night of the murder, do ya? Just like that? Okay! Sure! Here we go!! Are you ready for this, now? Cause it may shock ya. I’m not kiddin’ now, it’s a big thing, for sure! So really, Mr. Attorney, can you han--"

“Get on with it already!”

“HEY MAN DON’T BE LIKE THAT, YOU’LL GET ME ANGRY!!” Bryon yelled. Already, a vein of anger was appearing in his forehead below his hair.

(Yikes! He looks ready to bash my face off... I better be careful.)

“Hmmm... well, actually, tell ya want, man! You should work out a bit of stress first before I tell ya!” Byron then smiled, regaining his cool, “Ya know, that detective with the pencil on his ear said that if I meet a lawyer in blue, I should say nothin’ to `im... but what he doesn’t know won’t hurt `im, so lemme make this proposition to ya!”

“Uh... s-s-sure...”

“Why doncha punch that trainin’ bag over there?” Bryon then points over to his nearby punching bag, “Go ahead, Mr. Lawyer, put all your strength in your fist and let it fly, yo. One good hard smack! Give it all ya got! UH! Yeah! And if you impress me, I’ll not only tell ya where I was last night... but I’ll tell ya what I saw!”

“What... you saw?”

“That’s right! I saw it all. I saw the actual murder take place.”

“!! I... see.” (Then this guy must be the eyewitness Gumshoe was talking about! And here I just thought he was some random spazz.)

Bryon walks Phoenix over to the punching bag, patting his shoulder.... though almost roughly, “Okay! So! Like I said, just work all your stress out on this bag, man!”

“I, uh... I don’t think I can...” Phoenix looked rather apprehensive about it. He couldn’t swing a fist to save his life, let alone to an inanimate object.

“Aw, come on, Nick! You can do it!” Maya cheered, “I know you can!”

“Yeah, come on!” Ema also joined in with Maya, “We know you! You’re no quitter.”

“Do it for Mia!”

(I hope this means Maya isn’t going to summon Mia’s spirit just to get me to get this guy to start talking...) Phoenix let out a sigh, and gathered as much strength as he could... he reeled back his fist, clinching it tight...

...then let fly his strongest punch into the bag!

WHOP! It was a direct hit, but the bag gently swayed back and forth.

“.....” Maya just stared blankly at Wright.

“.....” Ema just blinked at him in disbelief.

“.....” Bryon, of course, just looked cross.

(Hey, come on! Don’t give me those looks!) Phoenix groaned within his mind, (I’m not a street fighter!)

“Come on man! Don’t be a wimp! Don’t wimp out!” Bryon said, “A weaky punch like that?! Dude!! 4-year old daughter can throw a better punch!!”

“.....”

“Try harder! These girls believe in ya, man! Don’t let `em down! Come on, get that stress out!!”

“Rrrrrrgh...” Wright began to clinch his teeth, glaring down at the floor. Mainly out of frustration. Bryon was already being pretty annoying, and what’s more, he was hiding information he needed!

Then Wright began to think of Edgeworth... that whole disappearance of his after the DL-6 case... and having heard rumors of his suicide. That whole case in general began to build up anger in his mind. Without him being aware of it that much, he began to tighten his fist.

That other horrifying case he dealt with, SL-9... that also began to increase his own rage. It only made him think more of Edgeworth, and in return, his supposed “death”... he never realized how upset he felt about it before, but now all his emotions were coming together. His nails were practically digging into the flesh of his palm, his thumb tightening over his fingers.

And even more so, Maya and Ema, having been involved badly in both of those cases. Two friends he did happen to cherish...

At last he couldn’t take it anymore. He threw back his fist once more and let out a raged yell that surprised even Maya as he drove his fist hard into the punching bag’s leathery hide.

WHAMM!!! He really sent the bag rocking. It began to sway around in a circle, almost coming within Wright’s range, but never so much as touching him. Phoenix himself was heaving after having let out his rage into the bag with a single punch.

And then he just stood there... there was some quietness for quite a few seconds before the whole tension of silence was broken.

“...woooo! Ho! Oh! Hey!” Bryon suddenly slapped Wright hard on the back, nearly making him lose balance and knocking him out of his emotion, “Not bad there, man! Not bad at all! Now THAT’S a real knockout punch, man! A real winner!! Hoho!!”

Stumbling, waving his arms around, eyes nearly bugging out from shock, the young attorney manages to regain his balance and adjust his tie, “Uh...”

“Seriously, man. You had a really mean right there. If you learned to harness that strength you could be a great boxer for sure! Heck yeah!! Woo! You’ve got a fightin’ spirit, I can tell that just from that punch. I can!”

“Uhhh... tha-thanks, I guess...” Phoenix rubbed the back of his head shyly, chuckling coyly.

Maya only smiled at him, “See? That wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

(If only you knew, Maya. If only you knew...) He thought. His emotions and feelings about everything he thought about soon repressed themselves back into a corner of his mind, at least for now...

“Okay, mac. Okay. Mike Bryon’s a man of his word, so he’s gonna tell ya what he saw that night and everythin’ else! Yeah! Mmph! Hoho!”

“G...g-great! Sure...” Phoenix then coughed, “Um. Alright. So, where were you at the night of the murder?” He asked, getting back on track on his case.

“Well, lessee.... hmmmm, lessee nowwwwww.... ah. Well! Me, the great Mike Bryon, was out and about, okay? Yeah!! I was relaxing after my big fight last night with George Marciano! Hmm!” Byron explained, “It was a pretty exhilarating fight, see, and it really knocked the wind outta me! I had to rest for a good while, too. I think I must have rested backstage after my fight for about... ohhh... 5 minutes or so. Yeah. 5 minutes! Mm-hmm! I didn’t go straight to the locker room right away, cause I was that exhausted! Yep! I was that exhausted, man. Really exhausted!! Especially cause it’s for the contendership for the heavyweight title!! Yeah!”

“A contendership, huh?”

“Yep! Maaaan, what a fight! Ya know, wearin’ that belt is a great sign of accomplishment! That’s why the competition for that belt has always gotta be STRONG, ya see?! Anyways... recently, one of the other heavyweights won that belt last night. I think he’s still around here, probably hangin’ around or something. But that’s not too important right now, is it?”

“Well, just in case, I’d like to know a bit more about this person.”

“Really? Well if you feel it’ll help! This fellow, now, his name is Marco DeMarco, see? Yeah, of the famous DeMarcos of boxin’ fame! Real prestigious boxing family, man. Almost everybody’s heard of them, yo. They’ve been in this business for decades!! Even before I was born!”

“Do you know where he was last night after he won his match?”

“Well, not exactly, man, not exactly... see, his match was last, and it was for that title. The bout only lasted 15 minutes, man! 15 minutes!! I ain’t never seen nothin’ like that, NOTHIN’!! Serious, yo!”

“Oh.” (We left the arena before that match...)

“Anyways, DeMarco was real happy to win that belt, man. He’s one of the hardest workin’ young boxers I’ve ever seen! Even I wasn’t able to defeat the guy who won that belt from me that fast! No way in heck, man! Anyways... back on subject... I didn’t see where he went off to after he went backstage. I don’t know if he went to the locker rooms or not when the whole fight was over.”

(I’ll have to look into this DeMarco person later.) “Now then, Mr. Bryon... there’s the other matter... the murder you saw take place.”

“Oh, you wanna ask about that now? Welllll... I dunno, yo... now? Hmmm...”

“Please, Mr. Bryon. I have to find every lead I can get.”

“Alright, alright. Well, I can’t tell you too much right now, but... I do know for a fact, yes, for a fact, that Demps indeed did kill Menai! Yeah. He sure did.”

“...Wh...what?”

“Don’t believe me? Well, I’ll tell ya... I saw it with these two eyes of mine! The ones in my head! I saw it all! See, I went down to the locker room to get ready to head out and take a shower, too, when I heard the sounds of a struggle goin’ on! Uh-huh, I did! He bashed that poor girl all along the lockers!”
Byron then folded his arms across his chest as he told his story, “I heard the cries of Menai as she fought with him! Then, I saw it... I saw him smash her head with the amateur trophy he won!” He then thrusted his fist upward in an uppercut, “BLAMMO!!! Smashed it clear over her head, yo!! Quite a few times, too!! Now that’s a TKO no one’s gettin’ up from!!”

“Then what did you do?”

“I did the most sensible thing anyone would do, man! I called the police! Called `em.”

“Do you remember what time they arrived?”

“Welllllll... I ain’t tellin’ that!” Byron smirks, “I’ve told ya the straight and narrow, right there! Hoh! Yeah! That’s all yer getting from me. If ya wanna hear the rest, you’ll have to wait for court tomorrow, yo. HUH!” He then starts jabbing at the air some more, “Then you’ll get all the details! All of `em, right in that courtroom , man!”

“I see.... um... thanks for your help anyway, Mr. Bryon.”

“No problem at all, dude! No problem at all.” Byron then said, “As for me, I’ve gotta get goin’. Why don’t you go look for DeMarco, in the meantime? I’m sure he can tell ya some things too! I dunno where he may be, but who knows? He very well could be hangin’ around here to do some training later too! Look around and ask for `im. Anyways, later, dude!!”

With that, Byron left... exiting the training room.

“Well, there he goes, Nick...” Maya said, watching him leave.

“It really doesn’t look very good for poor Joe, does it...” Ema then said, “I feel sorry for the poor guy... this is like what my sister went through.”

“Yeah... except Demps isn’t saying he’s guilty when he really isn’t.” Phoenix then sighed again, scratching his head, “I suppose we should go and look for this DeMarco fellow and see what we can find out from him.”

Last edited by Kunio-kun on Tue Sep 25, 2007 5:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

Marvelous, wonderful, stupedious, amazing, and good too.

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Last edited by ParrotMan01 on Tue Sep 25, 2007 1:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Here is the next part of the story. I'll start on the next one when I can...

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“He sure wasn’t very clear on where exactly we could find this DeMarco guy...” Maya said as she thought out loud, “He could be anywhere.”

“Well, we’ll have to start looking somewhere.” Phoenix would glance around the area, looking around for any sign of the man.. “He said he’d be here. He might have seen him earlier. Though to be perfectly honest, it would have helped if he told us what he looked like, because I’ve never heard of him.”

“Why don’t we ask that fellow over there?” Suggested Ema, who noted and pointed to a man a little ways away. He looked kind of out of place... after all, he was dressed extraordinarily fashionable, unlike all the rest of the people seen around the building, “Maybe he’s seen him.”

“Hm... I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

The man was reading a paper, occasionally checking his watch, which was quite expensive looking, not to mention fancy. He was dressed in a whitish-blue and navy-blue trim short jacket that had blue lining inside with short sleeves and matching pants, and a blue shirt underneath that was tucked into his pants. Around his neck was a fancy gold medallion, and his shoes were very expensive looking black loafers, which looked Italian-made. He also appeared to have medical bandages wrapped around his arms and hands.

The man was rather handsome at that. Muscular, tall, looked very well-conditioned... his shoulder-length red hair was ponytailed in the back, though one side of his bangs in front were parted to the side and were long enough to hang over the left side of his face, where a streak of gold went up one of the bangs in the middle.

Phoenix examined him for a moment as he walked over to him before he proceed to try and get his attention, “Excuse me, sir...”

The man continued reading the paper, not even bothering to look in Phoenix’s direction.

“...sir?”

No response.

“.....”

“I guess he’s too busy...” Ema then said, scratching the back of her head.

“...hm...?” The man then lowered his paper, glancing over to the group, “...yes? What is it?”

“Uh... sorry to bother you, sir, but... I would like to ask you some questions.” Wright then said, now that they had his attention.

“Sorry, I’m not available for an interview today. You’ll have to try some other time.”

“What? No no no, I’m not a reporter. I’m an attorney.”

“So? Why should that be of concern to me?”

“I’m trying to find as many leads as I can to help my client’s case. It’s important.”

“...oh, very well.” The man then folds his paper and tosses it in the nearby trash bin, “I was done with my paper anyway,” He said , his dark eyes looking over to Phoenix, “...So. What did you want? Go ahead and ask me.”

“We’re wondering if you knew where we could find a man named Marco DeMarco. We heard he was here in this arena.”

“Ahaha~, so you’re looking for THE great Marco DeMarco, are you?” The man asked with an amused smirk, placing his hands in his pants pockets, “You know, there’s only one Marco DeMarco in the world... he can’t be replaced. Interesting, isn’t it?”

“Uh...”

“He’s very talented, you know... he’s got a degree in acting, a black belt in karate, and he loves classical music... he’s quite a refined man, you know. He just won the heavyweight championship in boxing.”

“Er... yes... could you just--”

“He’s a big name in the boxing sport, too... well, maybe not the biggest... but he’s definitely close.”

“.....so. Marco DeMarco. Do you know where he is?”

“Of course, I do. I know where he is very well. He is right here. Right now.”

“Really? Where?!”

“You’re looking at him.” The man then said.

“?”

“Ahaha~...” The man cocked his head to one side and smirked once again, “I... am Marco DeMarco.”

(You could have just told us that from the start!!)

“Surprised? You must be. You never expected to run into such a dude like me here, did you? Of course not... now then...” Marco said, as he leaned back against the wall coolly, “You said you wanted to ask me a few questions. Well, fire away!”

“Do you think you could tell us where you were the night of the murder?”

“The night of that gruesome murder involving that no-nonsense sports journalist? Hmph. Well, if you want to know, I was back in my hotel room, at the nearby Gatewater Hotel.” Marco answered, “I headed back there some time after my match. It must have been around 11 PM when I left. I didn’t hear about the murder until this morning, however.”

“11 PM, huh?”

“Yeah. I had to sign some autographs, relax, and then take care of a few more things before I left.”

“I see.”

“Ahaha~, the DeMarcos are a famous family of boxers...” DeMarco suddenly began, “They have a history of being champions. It’s what makes us so special. We’re hard-working people.”

“Huh?!” Phoenix was nearly caught off guard, “Wha... what does that have to do with anything?!”

“I was just making some small talk. No harm in that, right?”

(Are all these big-name boxer types so full of themselves?!)

“So, I’ve heard you’ve won your championship not too long ago...” Maya said, “In 15 minutes.”

“Ahaha~... That’s correct.” Marco replied with that recurring laugh of his.

“It must have been an incredible win for you, Mr. DeMarco!”

“Oh, you bet your hippie clothes it was an incredible win!” He cocked his head to the side in confidence, “You can’t win a match so fast like that every day, you know. It’s one of those rare miracles. My skill, as great as it is, had nothing to do with it. You could say, it is divine fate!”

“Really? You think it’s fate?”

“Of course. Well, maybe I’m giving myself too little credit... maybe, just maybe, my skill helped me. Or maybe it was even lady luck. Maybe she smiled on me that night... it’s certainly possible, don’t you think?”

“What about science?” Ema then asked, smiling.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. Science doesn’t win boxing matches.”

Ema hung her head in disappointment. Probably because she knew it was true.

(Well, I have to admit, that was a pretty stupid question...)

“By the way, if I may ask, what are you doing here?” Wright then inquired, “You’d think you’d be doing something else than just standing here for no reason...”

“Ahaha~... but I do have a reason. You see, I’m waiting for my manager.”

“Your manager?”

“Is there an echo in here? That’s what I said... I’m waiting for my manager. It’s an important business discussion. We couldn’t arrange it from our hotel room, you understand... sometimes we like a little more than a little privacy.”

“I see...”

“By the way, would you happen to know anything about Joe Demps?”

“Demps? You mean that bedraggled looking man who looked like something the cat dragged in?” Marco then said, “He’s just pitiful. Simply pitiful.”

“What makes you say that?” Ema asked.

“Simple, my dear. Just one look at him is a sure sign that he’s a nothing in the boxing world. Oh, but he tries hard, I’ll give him that. But he’ll never make it with guts alone... especially with that wishy-washy old fart who’s wing he’s under."

“You mean Mr. Nails?”

“Yes, that old man. He’s a nothing these days too. Always rambling on and on about how boxing was in his day and how he used to be a world champ... it’s just a bunch of old hat news. He should just let it all go, it’s nothing but a memory now.”

“Nails used to be a boxer?” Wright asked before he thought back to when he met Nails... he had no idea that he was a boxer.

“From what I gather, yes. He tells almost everyone. I think he just does it cause he thinks he’s better than everyone else. Ahaha~...” He then shook his head, “Well, he can go on and on about it as many times he pleases, it won’t make a difference.”

“How... how can you say those kinds of things?!” Maya blurted out, clinching her fists angrily, “You’re acting no better!”

“And what would you know about how I act?” DeMarco responded in an icy tone, glaring at Maya, “Why... speaking of acting...” He regained his smile and cocked his head to the side, “I was the star in many plays back when I was a boy, living in my beloved, beautiful hometown of Rome, Italy... I studied under the best classes you know. Before I decided to follow in my ancestor’s footsteps, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be a boxer like them, or a movie actor... and well, I suppose now that I think about it, I could possibly go into doing both... I think it’d bring a lot of fame to the DeMarco name, wouldn’t you agree?”

(Does this guy ever shut up about himself?!)

“Now then... is that all you wish to ask me? I must say, I enjoyed our friendly chatter. But my manager could be here any minute.”

“Yeah. Sure. Sorry to bother you. Thanks very much.” (Anything to get away from this guy.)

With an adieu, the group left DeMarco, who resumed looking at his watch and gawking around, waiting for his manager.

“Do you think we should go and investigate the crime scene now?” Maya asked Phoenix, “Surely Gumshoe has left it by now, knowing him...”

“Well... I can’t think of anything better to do right now. We must as well try and see if he’s not there...”

“Finally!” Ema looked quite enthusiastic, ready to spray just about anything with her luminol spray, “A chance to do some investigating with Mr. Wright again... I’ve been ready for this!”

(You’re ready to do anything involving science.)

Last edited by Kunio-kun on Wed Oct 03, 2007 4:48 am, edited 1 time in total.

Still great like always, De-Marco's a jerk.

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"TKO" "Turnabout Knockout"
Hah hah hah...
Great story by the ways. I'm an avid fan of Punch-Out, so I'll be looking at this story.

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