Something I've been working slowly for months now, and Toasty Aki has been helping me a whole lot on it (she became my editor in the end ). I finally finished it and am posting it slowly in fragments (because it's 18 pages long. Who wants to read that much online in one sitting?). I'll post a fragment once a week.

Anyway, although it's a Phoenix Wright fanfiction, there is no trial, no Phoenix, no Apollo Justice. Only frequent cameos by Edgeworth, Ron, Desiree, and one brief one by GS4-2 characters at the end. I don't think there's any serious spoilers... Um... well, enjoy anyway (is this kind of story still allowed?). And please give me your feedback. I like hearing your opinions as the story progresses.

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“You’re late!”
It’s a breezy autumn day today, Sunny was runs past me with her curly red pigtails bouncing with each step. She stops to jump stretching as far as she could. If we keep this pace up, we’ll be late, at least ten minutes by my watch. But Sunny, she doesn’t seem to care at all.
“Good morning, Shin!” she greets with a sunny smile. ‘Shin’ it was her nickname for me, a weird habit of hers. She gives everyone a weird nickname and never calls them by anything else. “Thanks for waiting for me.”
“If you keep making me wait, I’ll leave you behind one day,” I said, turning around to walk away. It’s an empty threat and she knows it. It’s like an every day routine for us. All she has to do is hop right in front of me, with her trademark Sunny smile, no one can resist it… it never fails…
“Shin, that’s meeeeaaaaan~” she says, big brown eyes full of tears and bottom lip pouting. “You’d wait for me, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you?”

I hate it when she makes that face, its another face of hers no one can resist. I’ve yet to meet a person who could. Everyday I try my best not to look, but that voice is enough to make me give in. I sigh, giving up and answer “Yeah… Sure…” her smile returns and she bounces on ahead of me.
“Hurry up or else I’ll be the one to leave you behind!”
“Yeah yeah…”
My name is Gregory Edgeworth the Second… Or is it Gregory Edgeworth Jr.? To be honest, I never figured it out. One of those things adults never bother explaining to you, and you never bother to ask. Anyway, I am in the fourth grade of elementary school. This is my best friend, Sunny DeLight. Well actually, she’s my only friend. She may be a trouble maker, but she’s a good person at heart. I was picked on since the first day of school, but she stood by me and took up for me despite everyone else picking on her for it.

We make it to class five minutes late, while everyone else is in the middle of the Pledge of Allegiance. Sunny and I join in for the last few lines and sit down along with everyone else. Our teacher, Ms. Applebet, then takes her place at the front of the class and Sunny and I try our best to ignore her giving us the “Don’t think I didn’t see you” look.
“Alright, children, we have a new student joining us today,” she announces and we all look as a pale and shy looking boy comes in the door. His brown hair is short and messy and his blue eyes are very large, probably nervous from all the other pairs of eyes on him. His shoulders are scrunched up and his arms are close to his body as if he thinks something will hit him as soon as he walks in. Acting so nervous that it’s almost like fear, then he quietly introduces himself.
“Um… Hello… Uh… My name is Cory Wilder…” he mutters, shifting his weight back and forth, making his nervousness even more obvious with each movement.
“Welcome to Watson Elementary,” we chorus.
“Before we get started, I want everyone to know this. I expect every one to help Cory adjust to his new school and make him feel welcome here,” the teacher continues.
“Yes, Ms. Applebet…”
“Cory, there’s an empty seat next to Sunny DeLight. That will be your seat from now on.”
Sunny raises her hand slightly as the teacher points at her. Cory nods and slowly marches to his seat as if he’s about to be executed on the electric chair. We have class for a few hours until finally it’s time for recess. Usually, Sunny’s the first one to run outside, but this time, she stays behind as everyone runs out to play.
“Heki, want to play with us?”
Cory looks around, trying to figure out who she’s talking to.
“She is talking to you, Cory,” I explain. “She just makes up nicknames for everyone.”
His eyes become so big from surprise, I thought they’d eat up his forehead. Cory never really got a chance to say anything before Sunny grabbed his arm and yanked him towards the door.
“Enough chit chat! Come on! Let’s go play!”
I sigh slightly and stick my hands in my pockets before following.

Out on the playground, I got to get to know Cory a little better.
“So… er… um… I’m Cory… What’s your name?”
Cory and I wait as Sunny fights the other kids for a decent ball.
“My name is Gregory and that was Sunny.”
“… You don’t seem all that eager to help her get a ball…”
“Sunny’s the one who’s into sports, not me. To be honest, I’d like to stay inside and read.”
“Oh…”
“And anyway, I know she can take care of herself… I’d just get in the way.”
“You really think so?”
Having succeeded in the theft of a ball, Sunny runs up to us. Her hat is askew and her curly-q pigtails are tangled, but her face is beaming.
“I finally got a ball! We can play now! Come on, Shin! Catch!” she squeals and throws the ball with all her strength. Which ends up hitting me square in the face. Sunny apologizes, pigtails twisting as if they’re having spasms, and Cory edges away from her, clearly terrified.
“Sorry, Shin! Are you okay? AAHH! I think your nose is bleeding!”
I try my best not to cry, but it’s really painful and the blood oozing out my nose and down my front. I manage not to panic, but just barely. Mother and Father told me that I can’t die from a simple nosebleed, but considering how Sunny’s acting, she must think I can. Cory is paler than before and clearly not enjoying his first day.
“You two can play without me. I’m going to the nurse’s office,” I tell them, still just barely holding back my tears of pain. I hope I looked calm enough to make them feel better.

Recess is almost over and my nose finally stopped bleeding. I’m not too upset really. A little freaked out maybe, but not upset. I’m sure Sunny and Cory are having fun. Sunny would throw the ball more gently this time and if they gave up on that game, she’s probably showing Cory around the school.
“But it wasn’t his fault!”
Isn’t that Sunny’s voice?
“Ms. DeLight, that’s enough. I’m disappointed in both of you.”
I was walking by my classroom at this point. I peek inside and see Ms. Applebet yelling Sunny and Cory.
“Never would I have believed… Ms. DeLight, you should have known better. You’re not to climb over fences and off school property, even if it was to go retrieve a ball!”
“But!”
“Of all the things you could have done, climbing over the fence and leaving the school yard is the worst possible thing! You should have told the teacher’s aide instead of going after it yourself! And that goes for you too, Mr. Wilder!”
Cory looks ashamed and Sunny’s looking at her shoes in her guilt.
“Please don’t ever do this again. Sunny, you should be setting a better example for Cory as a student at this school! Well, Cory, seeing as this is your first day here, I’m willing to let this go with only a warning. Ms. DeLight, I’m calling your parents about this. If this happens again, you’re getting detention.”
“But!”
“Quiet! You were always a troublemaker, but you never did anything this reckless before!”
“Shin usually runs off to tell the TA when it happens…” Sunny replies, still staring at her shoes.
“Sunny broke his nose on accident at the beginning of recess so he had to go to the nurse…” Cory adds. Unfortunately, Ms. Applebet believes just about anything.
“REALLY?! GREGORY BROKE IS NOSE?! OH DEAR! IS HE ALRIGHT?!”
Before she has the chance to make Sunny feel even guiltier, I run into the room. “My nose isn’t broken!” I yell out, trying to correct her. “It was just bleeding really bad! It’s perfectly fine now!”

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Last edited by Android 21 3/7 on Sat Dec 29, 2007 10:09 pm, edited 6 times in total.

Good start, Android. I'm looking forward to more.

I love Sunny and Greg ^^

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There's a total of ten parts plus the epilogue I think. But I must admit. Things don't really get interesting until part three.

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Part 2 for anyone who cares. I guess it's rather short in comparison to the other parts, but part three itself is pretty freaking long. Maybe I'll post part 3 on Wednesday just to get to the interesting bit faster.

Oh yeah, since this happens during the Apollo Justice arc, I had to take a couple of liberties... So since Ron can't exactly be Kamen Mask anymore, but still has to support Desiree's expensive hobbies, why not take his exploits as Kamen Mask and turn it into a TV show?! It's like OJ Simpson's "How I Did it" only far less controversial! ... I'm going to go bury myself back into a hole now...

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Once recess was over, I was sure things would settle down.
“Sunny, are you okay?”
Since that incident at recess, Sunny has been unusually quiet. Even now that it’s lunch time, she’s eating in silence. Normally, she doesn’t stop talking, even when her mouth is full. Which normally is really gross, but her silence is making me uncomfortable. I’d much rather hear the ‘See-food’ joke again. Finally, she puts down her sandwich.
“I’m sorry…”
“For the nose bleed? Accidents happen. My nose doesn’t even hurt anymore.”
“No… I meant for climbing over the fence… I know I should have told the TA… In fact, I told Cory I was going to tell the TA, but he was so afraid of getting yelled at… and…”
Oh, I can see what’s coming next.
“You wanted to practice for when you grow up…” I groan. She cheers up a little and nods. “Sunny, I really don’t want to be your enemy when we grow up…”
“We won’t be enemies! We’ll be rivals!” she replies, regaining her enthusiasm. “Just like your dad and Mr. Naruhodou!”
“I don’t think you get it, Sunny. Father and Uncle Nick may fight each other in court, but they really want the same thing. Like...” I pause to think of something, and remember my father’s words. “We should settle this like two… diplomats!” I smile. “Working for a… neutral compromise!” That should get my point across!
“… Two whos working on a whosiewhatsit?” she scrambles back. I guess she wouldn’t know about diplomats after all…
“Umm… Sorry for interrupting but… is it okay if I sit with you guys?” It’s Cory. He seems to have eased up a bit since recess, but is still very nervous.
“Oh yeah, sure,” answers Sunny, scooting over. I also make room and he sits between us.
“What were you guys talking about anyway?” Cory asks.
“What we wanted to be when we grow up!” Sunny replies enthusiastically. “Say, what about you, Heki?”
“Well… I haven’t really decided yet,” Cory says, shifting his weight uncomfortably. “What about you two?”
“I’m going to be a phantom thief, just like Mask*DeMasque!” Sunny exclaims, waving her arms excitedly.
“But Mask*DeMasque is just a character on a TV show,” Cory tells her. Big mistake.
“Mask*DeMasque is so totally real!” Sunny explodes. “He’s real! I know he is! Mommy and Daddy told me all about him!”
Cory edges away from her and her crazy fangirling, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to win the argument.
“But, Sunny, your parents made that show… uhh… Right?”
“Cory, stop. She’ll only get worse,” I whisper to him.
“Okay…” Cory murmurs. “What about you, Greg? Are you going to become a prosecutor like your dad?”
“Not really,” I reply, shrugging. “However”, I pause in the middle. I don’t remember ever telling him this. “How did you know my father was a prosecuting attorney? How do you even know what a prosecutor is?”
Cory gives a meek little shrug of his own. “My mom and dad used to watch the news a lot and your dad’s name pops up a lot in court cases. Anyway, why don’t you want to become a lawyer?”
“I just don’t get the complex stuff that Father does right now. He says when I get older I'll understand. But detectives seem pretty straight forward. You collect evidence that helps people find the bad guy. You don’t worry about defending or prosecuting the bad guy, you just have to catch him.”
Sunny rolls her eyes. “And you’re supposed to be the smart one…”
“Lawyer stuff is really complicated. Mother and Father say that you have to stay in school longer that most other people just to get it all. And being a detective makes you a good guy! Unlike thieves!”
“Hey! I’ll have you know that phantom thieves can be good people too!” Sunny argues. “At least I’d be nice enough to tell the police before I steal! And I might not even steal for myself but give what I stole to people who really need it, like Robin Hood!”
“Sunny, I think that’s called vigilantism. That’s also a crime.”
“… Vi-jill-ant-tism?”
While Sunny ponders this, I notice Cory trying his best not to laugh.
“Huh? What’s so funny?”
“Oh, nothing. Just remembered a little inside joke that my mom and dad used to tell me.”

---

Part three. Hopefully, you people will find things are getting more interesting... Errr... I hope...

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After lunch and a few more hours, class ends for the day and everyone leaves. Sunny and I are walking home when we notice Cory walking a little behind us.
“Hey, Heki!” Sunny calls out. He looks up with a start.
“Sunny? Greg? You guys walk this way too?”
“Sunny lives across the street from me,” I explain to him. “What about you? Where’s your house?”
“Just a little further down this road,” he replies, shifting his weight anxiously again.
“Oh really? Us too!” Sunny giggles. “Hey, we can walk together! From now on, we’ll be stuck together like glue!”
We continue to walk along the road, enjoying our new friendship. Cory is definitely much more at ease than he was this morning and soon, he and Sunny are having a friendly argument over who would win in a fight: The Titanium Samurai or Mask*DeMasque. Eventually though, we hear shouts behind us.
“Run!” Sunny screams, and we all bolt.
“Why are we running?” Cory asks us, panting.
“The big kids are always beating up little kids like us!” I explain quickly.
“And Shin is their favorite target because he’s a wimpy pansy girly boy!” Sunny adds.
“I AM NOT!”
“YOU TOTALLY ARE!”

Because this happens every day, Sunny and I have perfected a plan to escape them. We run into the crowded shopping district with Cory following our lead. The older kids are right behind us, so we weave through the crowd, trying to lose them in it.
“ACK!” “WHOA!” “HEY!”
“Excuse me! Sorry! Pardon us! Sorry about that!”
The boys to follow us easily at first, but Sunny always runs behind me, knocking things over for them to trip on and causing blocks and avalanches. This always buys us enough time to vanish and we get home without a scratch.
But not this time. When Sunny causes an avalanche, Cory stops running and stares frozen at the wobbling pile, allowing it to fall on him. We stop running and try to dig him out, but only seconds later, the older boys catch up to us. They stop and snicker, their leader popping his knuckles with an evil grin on his face.
“… Uh-oh…”

Each one of us was roughed up, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Though the manager of the store doesn’t like us very much for making a mess everyday, he still broke in and got them to stop. He still yelled at us about the mess though. We continue to walk, quiet and achy.
“I’m sorry…” Cory finally murmurs.
“For what?” I ask.
“For having to get stuck in the avalanche…”
“You didn’t get what we were up to,” Sunny comforts. “It’s not your fault.”
Cory doesn’t say anything, and continues to look down.
“It’s all right,” Sunny tells him. “Why don’t we talk about something else?”
“Yeah… um… so what do your parents do anyway?” I ask. He stops walking. I look at him. Wrong topic?
“Why do you ask?” he asks back, his voice and expression unusually stiff.
“Ah! You don’t have to answer if you want to!” I reply quickly. “It’s just that you know what our parents do, so I thought…”
“… Both my parents… are gone… and they’re never coming back…”
“Oh… I… I’m sorry..”
We’re all silent for a long time… Eventually, we continue to make our way home, but we don’t speak until Cory stops at his house. As he walks up the pathway, I feel I have to speak again.
“I’m sorry I brought it up…” I apologize. “If I had known…”
“If you didn’t, there’s no use in apologizing,” he says in a surprisingly gruff manner before opening his front door and locking it behind him. Sunny and I stare at the house for a while before continuing our walk home.
“… ‘If you didn’t’…” Sunny repeats. “Shin, why did he say ‘if’?”

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Part 4 up... o_o anyone reading? ... Edgeworth's in this one... Err... I'll just keep posting until I get word from one of the admins that I shouldn't or something...

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I get to my house and open the door.
“I’m home…”
I walk in, take off my shoes, and put on my slippers. I’m instantly tackled by Pesu, but to my surprise, I’m also greeted by my mother’s voice.
“Welcome home, sweetie,” she calls out from her study. I can hear her continue talking as she makes her way out of her messy study and down the stairs.
“Oh I didn’t realize it was this late. Since trial ended early today, I was planning to pick you and Sunny up. Then I started to work on something else and simply lost track of time!” She makes a steady descent down the stairs, but when she sees me, she increases her pace.
“Gregory, did the older boys jump you again?”
I didn’t think Mother would be home this early. I was planning to change out of my torn clothes before either of my parents came home. Well, they would have figured it out anyway. Mother leads me gently by the arm to the bathroom where she quietly washes and bandages my scrapes.
“I thought you and Sunny figured out a way to avoid them,” she says, dabbing my knee with that stuff that stings a lot.
“We did. It’s just that there was a new kid today and he lives along the same road as us…” I explain, wincing with every dab. “He’s really nervous. When Sunny caused an avalanche, he stopped running and just stood there, frozen.”
“Hmm… I see…” Mother replies, moving on to the scrape on my face. “Well hopefully, he won’t make the same mistake…” Mom was the only one who knew about our avalanches. I didn’t tell Father, because he would tell me all the possible liabilities we could be causing. We had tried talking to the principal, but detention doesn’t bother big kids that much. It’s really nothing to get too involved in my Mom has told me, lots of kids get bullied. It either builds character, or leg muscles.
Once Mother finishes cleaning and bandaging my scrapes, she leads me to the kitchen where she makes me a sandwich and an ice pack.
“So,” she says happily, setting the sandwich in front of me and the ice pack for the bruise and bump on my forehead. “aside from nervous, what’s the new kid like?”
“Well he’s very quiet,” I tell her while eating my sandwich. “But he’s started to feel comfortable enough to argue with Sunny about TV shows.”
Mother smiles her warm smile. “I see. I’m glad you made a new friend. What’s his name?”
“Cory Wilder.”
Mother’s eyes narrow a little and her warm smile turns into a weird frown. “Interesting coincidence…”
“What?”
“Nothing you need to concern yourself with, sweetie,” she replies, her smile returning to her face. I know that is a fake smile though. Her “interesting coincidences” are usually important. Still I know she won’t say anything else about it, so I decide to talk about something else.
“Mother, how was trial today?”
Mother beams. “Mommy got the bad guy thrown into jail!” she announces with an excited gesture. “It was a very quick and easy trial.” She then starts to act out the whole case. To be honest, it gets a little hard to follow her story after a while. I’m about to ask her to slow down when I hear the door close. Father is home.
“Welcome home, Darling!” Mother greets. I hop out of my seat and welcome him with a hug. He hugs me back, but quickly notices my bruised face.
“Gregory, what happened?”
As I did with Mother, I quickly explain everything to Father, except I make a little white lie where Sunny and I accidentally knock of the shelf that fell on Cory. He always looks tired when he gets home, but when I talk about Cory, he suddenly looks even more exhausted.
“Interesting” is all he says.
“Mother said the same thing… Do you know Cory somehow? He seems to know you…”
“It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with, Gregory. It’s probably nothing more than an interesting coincidence.”
“Mother said that too.”
“Well if it ever does become something you need to worry about, then we’ll tell you as soon as possible, alright?”
“Fine,” I sigh, before changing the subject. “How was today’s trial?”
Though Father still looks very tired, he smiles and gives me a light pat on the head.
“Needlessly long and needlessly complicated.”
“Can you tell me about it?”
“I prefer not to tell stories before the ending is written. And I don’t think you’d be able to follow and fully comprehend the whole situation anyhow. Perhaps I’ll let you read the court record when you’re older.”

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Part five is up for the people who are reading.

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The week passes and I soon forget about the reactions Mother and Father had to Cory’s name. Since Cory joined us, Sunny is even more of a troublemaker. No matter what Cory and I said, we couldn’t talk her out of her crazy plans. For example, one day when we decide to show Cory around the neighborhood, he said he heard rumors about a haunted house and nervously asks if it’s true. Sunny happily drags us all two blocks over to see it.
“This is the haunted house!” she announces proudly, as if she’s the reason why it’s haunted. Cory gives the house a very nervous look, but I roll my eyes.
“Sunny, it’s not haunted. It’s just falling to pieces,” I attempt to correct her.
“It’s so totally haunted!” she insists. “I can hear it moan sometimes!”
“Yeah, when it’s windy,” I argue back. “It’s just the sound of the wind blowing through all the holes in the house!”
She rolls her own eyes and turns to Cory. “He always says that. But I’m going to prove it to him!”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Cory answers, nervously shifting his weight again. “It looks dangerous… This can go like one of those horror movies…”
That was the worst possible thing he could have told her.
“Hey, yeah!” Sunny squeals happily, her eyes lighting up. Since her parents work in a TV studio, she gets excited over anything related to movies and TV…
“People die in movies, Sunny,” I remind her, hoping it would convince her not to go in.
“Well, we’ll make sure not to be stupid like the people who get killed,” she answers back, already making her way up the walkway.
“It’s entering the house that gets them into those situations to begin with!”
Too late! She’s already in the house! Cory looks just as panicked as I am. My head spins, but it’s obvious what we should do.
“Call the police!” I urgently yell at him. “I’m going to go after her! Maybe I can talk her out of this!”
“B-but what if the police come and nothing bad happens to her? We’ll get in trouble!”
“If something bad does happen, then we need the police!” I shout back. “Now go!”
Cory hesitates for a minute, then turns around and runs down the street. I turn back to the house and stare at its broken state. I don’t want to go in. I really don’t want to go in.
“I know I shouldn’t, but at the same time I really should…” I mutter, bracing myself. After taking a deep breath, I make my way into the house and hope that the floor or the ceiling doesn’t fall.
“Sunny! Sunny, where are you?” I call, carefully climbing over the rubble that litters the floor. “Come on, this is stupid!”
I hear something move further ahead.
“So you decided to come along after all!” she giggles, popping her head out of a far-away room. “I knew it! You can’t resist finding the ghost!”
“There is no ghost!” I argue, slowly making my way to her.
“You’d better not say that out loud,” she warns. “Ghosts go for non-believers first.”
“It’s not that I don’t believe in ghosts. I just don’t think that they’re here. Anything that suggests ghosts here has a logical explanation.”
“Pfff. You and your logic. Come on!”
I can only follow Sunny throughout the house. No matter what I say, nothing can convince her to leave with me.
“We could die!” I tell her as we climb up some rickety looking stairs.
“We haven’t yet!”
“You’re being stupid!”
“Hmph! Go back outside then, you chicken!”
“I’ll give you a cookie if you come back with me.”
“… No.”
Once we’re on the second floor, we hear something crack.
“It’s the ghost!” Sunny squeals excitedly and runs off ahead.
“SUNNY, WAIT!” I yell desperately, chasing after her. I hear another crack around me and the floor vanishes under my feet.
“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!”
“SHIN!”
I shut my eyes and brace myself for pain. I knew this would happen. If I’m not stabbed with a fallen piece of wood, I’ll probably be cut all over with broken glass or—
“HANG ON, KID!”
Someone manages to catch me before I hit the floor, but I can hear the first floor collapse under us and we fall into the basement. The person who caught me manages to soften our fall. It’s a police officer.
“Are-are you all right, Mister?” I ask, slightly shaken.
He gets up and winces a little. “Those splinters are doozies…” he says as he dusts himself off.
“SHIN!” Sunny yells, looking down from the hole in the second floor. “ARE YOU OKAY?!”

“You kids are lucky that I happened to be visiting Cory’s aunt when he ran in,” the officer lectured. “That house is dangerous! Didn’t you see the sign?!”
“Umm… Mr. Officer…” Sunny explains meekly. “It was all my fault… Shin was only trying to get me out, but I wouldn’t listen…”
“Even if that’s so, he should have called the local law enforcement!”
“But—” I interrupt.
“No buts! You should have known better!” the policeman lectures. He then lets out a deep breath and in a slightly gentler tone says, “Come on. I’ll take the three of you home.”

We reach Cory’s house first. The officer knocks on the door and it is immediately answered by a pretty lady with a kind face. She has shoulder-length reddish brown hair and deep green eyes.
“Oh Aspen, you got Cory’s friends out safely, thank goodness!”
“It was no problem, Deiphen—I mean Ms. Sieve,” replies the office, blushing a little.
“My aunt and Officer Dabble are kinda dating,” Cory whispers to me. “He’s helping us move the furniture today.”
“Wow. What great timing then,” I whisper back. “If you called the police station, I doubt they would have gotten to us in time.” Cory nods in agreement.
“His name is Officer Aspen Dabble?” Sunny butts in. “That’s a weird name.”
“It’s less weird than my aunt’s name,” Cory counters. “My mom has a weird one too.”
“I came to drop Cory off, Ms. Sieve,” Officer Dabble tells her. “But I’ll come back once I drop these two off.”
We soon reach Sunny’s house. Her parents look shocked. Actually, they have good reason to. For all her crazy ideas, they I don’t think they ever expected her to break into a ‘haunted house’… Her parents’ faces are grim as Sunny enters the house. As Mr. DeLight closes the door, Sunny looks back at me.
“Shin, I’m so sorry.”
I’ve never seen her look so guilty before.
When Officer Dabble knocks on the door of my house, he’s greeted with an awkward surprise.
“M-M-M-Mr. Edgeworth!”
Father has apparently just returned home from the courthouse and he doesn’t look too happy at the moment.
“What is it?” he demands, giving him a really scary look.
Slightly panicked, Officer Dabble pulls me aside. “Shin, stop joking and tell me where your house really is!”
“It’s here!” I try to explain. “And my name isn’t—”
“This prank has gone far enough!” he yells at me, half angry with me and half scared from Father’s glare. “Everyone at the precinct knows that Mr. Edgeworth’s son is named—”
“Gregory, maybe you can explain to me what’s going on,” Father snarls, rubbing his head. Officer Dabble is definitely scared now, but manages to tell Father what happened before I can.

“I see,” Father sighs once he finishes. Officer Dabble looks extremely nervous, clearly fearing for his paycheck. Father now has a pained look on his face.
“In that case, Officer Dabble, I thank you for your timely rescue and being ready even when not officially on duty,” Father says to him. “I’ll recommend a raise at your next monthly examination.”
Officer Aspen Dabble relaxes a lot with a big smile on his face. He gives Father a salute.
“Thank you, sir!”
He almost dances down our walkway in happiness. I’ve heard Father threaten officers with pay cuts all the time, but I never heard him give a raise before. He leads me to the living room and sits me down on the couch. He sits on the footrest in front of me, hands clasped in front of his mouth.
“Gregory, tell me what happened,” he orders.
“But you heard it from Officer Dabble,” I respond, surprised that I’m not being yelled at.
“The police often leave out details on accident and all he knows is that two kids had broken into a dilapidated house,” he explains. “Greg, you’re a smart boy and I know you know better than that. What happened before he rescued you?”
So I tell him. I tell him how we were showing Cory around the neighborhood. How he asked if the haunted house really existed. How Sunny dragged us all over there to look at it. How she went inside and I went after her once Cory had run off to get the police. As I talk, Father looks as grim and deep in thought as though he is in court. What he said next made my blood freeze…
“Gregory, you should choose your friends more carefully.”

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Wow! The end of chapter five was great! I'm not sure you are the greatest writer in the world, but certainly better than me!

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Who's the lawyer calling herself "mommy"?

BJ

Fancharacter I shall never refer to by name because I think I made her a mary sue. So she gets little screen time in order to limit her sue-ness.

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Ah, thank you. Wasn't too sure there. Thought for a second there it was Franny. *pukes*

BJ

Oh goodness no! I'm against that pairing too! (I'm a Larry/Franzie fan actually...)

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Haha. I just thought you left out the name so no one would say anything. XP Anywho. I love Sunny. I really dooooo~! [mostly cause I love Ron, but hey, whatever] Shin's funny too. And Cory is mysterious. I wonder what you're going to do with this... [tilts head] I'll be waiting. ^^

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I love these characters so much. Please keep writing.

Part 6

Okay I guess it gets slightly boring at the end, but the next part is fun, I promise.

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On Monday, I wait for Sunny in front of her house as usual when Cory walks up.
“Good morning,” I welcome, slightly surprised. “How do you know where we live?”
“Officer Dabble,” he replies.
“I think it’s better if you go straight to school,” I tell him. “Sunny is always late.”
“Why do you wait for her then?”
“We’ve been friends for a long time. I promised her I’d always wait for her.”
“That’s kinda weird… People normally make friends with people like them… but you two are nothing alike.”
“There’s no one like me at school anyway. It was actually kinda lonely until Sunny moved in.”
“… Yeah I know what that’s like…”
Before he can talk any more about that, Sunny comes running down her walkway.
“Hey, look! I actually got ready early today!” she beams. I look at my watch. “Early” for her means “barely on time if we run.”

We decide to play on the jungle gym during recess. I think Sunny still feels bad about giving me the nosebleed among other things.
“Shin, did your mom and dad punish you when you came home?” she asks carefully, still feeling guilty about that as well.
“Father gave me something like a lecture… I think…” I reply. I don’t want to tell her what Father said.
“My parents grounded me for a month,” she sighs. “And if I ever do anything so bad ever again, I’ll be grounded for a year. I’m glad your mom and dad let you off easy since it wasn’t your fault anyway…”
We’re all silent for a while, before Sunny decides to talk about something else.
“So, Heki, how did your aunt and that policeman meet anyway?” she asks Cory. “Ooo! Lemme guess! She was held hostage or something and he dashed in to save her with kung fu and stuff just like in action movies!”
“Sunny, it never works out that way,” I argue. Cory is still silent. The look on his face is one of cold resentment.
“… He was there when my parents…” he mutters, but he seems unable to finish.
“Oh! Look! The swings are open!” Sunny cuts in, trying even more desperately to lighten the mood. “Come on! Before someone else gets them!”

After school, we are about to walk home and find Cory’s aunt waiting for him in the parking lot. Sunny and I look at each other, wondering if she’s going to yell at us too about that Saturday. However, to our surprise, she only looks at us with a sad look on her face.
“Gregory… Edgeworth… Isn’t it?” she asks. I nod. She nods slightly. “I see…”
She leads Cory to the car and opens the car door. As she goes around the car to the driver’s side, she mutters something to herself. I can’t hear it, but Sunny manages to pick it up.
“What a strange thing to say,” she says.
“What?”
“She said, ‘Maybe with this, he can finally let it go…’”

“I’m home…”
Cory’s aunt was in a hurry and couldn’t give us a ride home. Sunny and I had to take our usual run through the market, wreaking havoc to escape the bigger kids. I greet Pesu as usual until I hear Mother’s car park in the driveway.
“Oh dear,” she says as she enters, carrying a thick binder full of papers and folders. “I meant to pick you, Cory, and Sunny up today, but I guess I missed you before you entered the shopping district.”
“You’re home early.”
“Not all cases should be worked on from the Prosecutor’s office, Greg. And your father’s working late today, so I thought I should be here to tuck you into bed tonight.”
Mother and I work on our various assignments in the living room. As usual, Mother is flipping through pages, taking down notes that make my head spin if I try to look at it. I work on my homework and manage to finish before dinner. After dinner, I read an old court record, but it’s too hard to read. It always sounds more interesting when Father reads it… I end up reading a book until it’s time for bed. As usual, Mother lulls me to sleep by reading one of her more boring cases. But before I fall asleep, I notice a name on a paper in the folder she didn’t read to me. Auphen Wilder.

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It looks like that chapter except the last two words is filler . But enjoyable all the same

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Yeah I won't deny that. Glad you liked it anyway. This next part is filler too, though it's a funny one.

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So how do you waste a month? Well Toasty Aki helped me a lot with this one.

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Without Sunny to liven up our weekends, I went over to Cory’s house to do homework. We weren’t completely without her though. As I pass by her house, I notice crumpled up sheets of paper in their front yard. Grounded with no video games and TV, she’s started to write dramatic letters. Sometimes it’s random things like ‘I’m not in an all girl’s school! Look for the body!’ or ‘Well I ran out of fourbodeing things to wright, sooooo… I really like pimento cheese sandwiches.’ or complete letters like this one:
‘Dear Shin,
I dunno how this letter will ever reach you… but I just want you to know that I am well… And that I’m constintly thinking about you, and the others, and how nice the old days were. Do not worry for I will stay strong and you mustn’t loose hope Shin for one day we will be reunighted and we shall conquor those who have done wrong against us!’
And this was only the first weekend. Her spelling and grammar are as bad as ever. It’s kinda embarrassing really. I mean, we still see her during the weekdays. I brought Cory some of the letters addressed to him, and in the end, we decided to correct them and send them back to her. Soon we found letters in her yard saying ‘D:<’. Even though we all walk home together, we couldn’t play together after school and apparently her parents trusted me to take her straight home. Which I always did actually… I sometimes visited her house after school though in case she wanted help with homework.
“Sorry, Greg, but I think the temptation would be too much for her,” Mrs. DeLight apologizes. I’m about to leave when I notice Sunny desperately miming from her open living room window. Slightly annoyed, I walk over.
“Did the guards see you?” she urgently whispers, referring to her parents.
“Yes,” I grumble, rolling my eyes.
“What’s the news from the outside?”
“Jeffery found a turtle on the playground today, but you already know that. You were there too, remember?”
“Oh yeeaaaahh…”
“Sunny, what are you doing?!” her mom yells. Sunny gasps.
“The General!” she screams, throwing another crumpled up letter at my head. “Run for it, Shin!” I pick it up and walk off.
“See you tomorrow, Sunny.”
“STAY STRONG, MAN!!! FIGHT THE POWER!”
“CLOSE THAT WINDOW THIS INSTANT, YOUNG LADY!”
And so a month passed. It was all too much for Sunny, so we spent her first free weekend at the arcade.

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I lol'd. Hard.

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Oh my! This is getting better and better!

BJ

Part 8. Last happy chapter. Sorry it's late, but I was really busy this weekend. And then I simply forgot.

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“Man, it’s great to finally be free from confinement!” she announces for the gazillionth time.
A week after her month long ‘groundation’ we’re all at her house working on our group project for school. She’s still enjoying her freedom… and getting all her video games back.
“Sunny, will you stop playing EBA:IWSH* and help us already?” I demand while Cory’s cutting out pictures from old magazines for our collage. Temporarily distracted, she misses a beat, ending her goal for getting through the last diva level with a perfect, so she turns off her game and sulks at me for a while.
“We’re almost done,” Cory promises her, still clipping things out of the magazines.
“Yeah, after this we can play, alright?”
Sunny lightens up a little and helps me glue the clippings in place. We soon finish and Cory volunteers to clean up, so Sunny and I head out to her backyard.
“Oooo! What shall we do first?” Sunny asks excitedly, digging through her box of toys. “Should we play Frisbee? Fly a kite? Fly a remote control helicopter?”
“Well there’s a nice breeze today, so why don’t we fly a kite?”
As we manage to dig out her kite set, Cory finishes and comes out to help us build it.
“I’ve never really flown one before,” he says, holding the sticks in place.
“You haven’t?” I ask, gluing the paper to the frame. “Then we’ll let you fly it first.”
“It’s fun once you manage to get it into the air!” Sunny adds, attaching the string.
We soon finish and Cory looks excited. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him excited really.
“Start running!” I tell him while holding up the kite. He does so and I throw the kite into the air. With the help of the healthy breeze, it soars instantly.
“Wow! Neat!” he says, tugging the string a little to see if he can make it do tricks.
“Let out more string! Make it go higher!” Sunny squeals. Cory does so and soon the kite is so high that birds fly around it, wondering what it is. Sunny then starts to teach Cory how to make it do tricks. Unfortunately, just when he starts to get the hang of it…
*SNAP!*
The string breaks without warning and the kite flies awkwardly, climbing higher and higher, but zigzagging randomly. It occasionally takes a clumsy dive before the wind picks it up again. It flies like this for a long time. Soon we can’t see it anymore. It’s windier than I thought…
“… Oh, so that’s what happens if a kite loses its string,” Sunny comments, reeling the rest of the string in. She’s not at all sad about the loss of her toy. Cory, however, looks disappointed.
“It’s alright, Cory,” I comfort him. “We can build another one someday.”

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*EBA:IWSH is short for "Elite Beat Agents: Insert Witty Subtitle Here". Because I wasn't witty enough to think up my own.

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Part 9. The plot is thickening! Turn up the heat and let it simmer!

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Cory volunteered to take our collage home when his aunt came to pick him up. The next day, we wait at Sunny’s house as usual, but she’s taking a long time this morning. Class just started so we’re already late. Cory holds our collage nervously. I don’t blame him. We were going to do collage presentations first thing today.
“How much longer do you think she’s going to take?” he asks, clutching the collage so tightly that it looks like it’s about to rip.
“I don’t know,” I answer, gently taking the collage so that he doesn’t destroy our hard work. “I’m going to ask. She could be sick.”
“Greg, I think we should go,” Cory pleads. “If she is sick, I think it’s a bad idea if we catch it.”
“But I promised I would wait for her every morning. I should at least go see what’s taking her.”
“But I don’t want the teacher to yell at us again. We’re already late every day because of her.”
… I want to wait for her… but in all honesty, I’m fed up with being late everyday because she holds us up.
“… Alright…”

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU DIDN’T WAIT FOR ME!”
Sunny arrived at school thirty minutes late in angry tears. Presentations already ended and we turned our collages in, but she cares more about the fact that we left without her.
“Ms. DeLight, please take you seat!” Ms. Applebet orders her in a shocked voice. Sunny crossly drops her backpack next to her seat and plops down in it.
“Why were you so late?” Cory asks her meekly. Instead of turning to face him to answer the question, she chooses to glare at me.
“For your information, I was having trouble finding my backpack this morning!” she snarls, as if it’s my fault. “And I looked in all my usual places too! My room, the living room, the stairs, cupboard under the stairs, under the kitchen table—”
“With so many usual places, is it any wonder that you had trouble finding your backpack?” I say back, annoyed that she seems to be blaming ME for her lack of organization.
“If you’re going to be that way, then I won’t tell you where I finally found it!” she snaps back. “But I’ll have you know that I would never leave it there and neither would Mom or Dad!”
“Would it have been better if I actually asked what was taking you before leaving?” I ask, getting tired of her death glare.
“You promised you would wait! You promised!”
Now she’s just being stubborn. When recess starts, Sunny bolts out of the classroom and Cory hesitantly follows.
“Maybe I can help,” he explains timidly before leaving the classroom. I spend recess in a quiet corner of the playground and read a book. It’s hard to enjoy the peace and quiet while Sunny and I are bad terms though…

This continues the whole day. Cory stays with Sunny, trying to get her to forgive me (though I don’t think I did anything wrong). I keep my distance until Sunny decides to make up. However, she won’t let it go and in the end, I walk home on my own. But that doesn’t stop the older boys. They become even worse when they realize I’m on my own now. I walk quickly into the market hoping the large groups of adults will scare them off. They won’t beat you up in front of teachers, shop keepers should be the same. But none of the grown ups take notice. I start to run, hearing the boys get closer I dodge around groups of people.
“Hey!”
“Watch it kid!”
No time to be sorry now. I stumble past shops, but it’s no good. The boys are right behind me. They're bigger and faster than I am. I grit my teeth and press harder. The pain in my legs is growing, and I don't think I can keep running. I feel them grabbing at my jacket trying to jerk me back. I slam into a store display; paper back books scatter all around. This slows them down but not enough, the leader grabs the back of my shirt and yanks me back. I yelp, cover my face, and wait for the pummeling to begin.
“HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!”
My eyes spring open again at the sound of this. The older boys turn and look at the woman who just yelled at them. It’s Cory’s aunt. As she runs up, they turn and run away.
“Are you alright, Greg?”
“Yes, thank you.” I get up and dust myself off.
“Where’s Sunny and Cory?”
“… Sunny and I had a fight so she’s not walking with me today. Cory’s been trying to talk her into patching things up…”
She surprises me with a troubled look on her face.
“Cory is doing that?”
“Uh-huh. Is something wrong?”
“… Greg, do you know…” She can’t seem to bring herself to finish that sentence. I can’t help but wonder what she was going to ask.
“… Ms. Sieve?”
Her face is pained. When she finally manages to speak, she says, “Gregory, get your parents to tell you about Cory’s parents if you can… They should know the details better than I do.”

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Part 10. After this, only one more fragment and then the epilogue.

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Cory’s aunt walked me home to make sure that the older boys didn’t jump me again, but she didn’t say anything else. Mother and Father weren’t home, so I decided to go up to Mother’s study to see if I could find that case file. Mother’s study is very messy. I finally found the case file under a bunch of folders on her desk. It’s very hard to read, just like all the other ones. I manage to dig out the Wilders’ profiles, but they aren’t that easy to read either. I’m still trying to make sense of some of the hard words when I hear Pesu barking and Father’s voice greeting him. Father climbs up the stairs and notices me in the study.
“Gregory, what are you doing?” he asks.
“I’m trying to read this,” I reply, holding up the Wilders’ profiles. “But it’s too hard. Cory’s aunt told me to ask you. What happened to Cory’s mom and dad? Did they die?”
Father starts to look a little concerned.
“Gregory, if she wants to know she should ask me or the police directly.”
“I think she wants me to know.”
Father hesitates a moment before speaking.
“Gregory,” he says, his voice sounding even more concerned now. “Did something happen?”
He sits down next to me, Pesu running up to sit in his lap. I tell him about the fight Sunny and I had. I don’t see what this has to do with Cory’s mom and dad, but Father apparently thinks so. When I finish, he sighs.
“I suppose it is something you should worry about now…” he says, gently ruffling my hair. “No, Gregory, they aren’t dead. They’re still very much alive and were transferred to a different prison a month ago…”
“Prison?!” I yell in shock. I wasn’t expecting this! “But the way Cory talked about them… I thought they were dead! They’re in prison?!”
“Thomas Wilder and his wife, Auphen, were con artists. They ripped off a lot of people before they were finally caught by the police. Enough to be imprisoned for life.”
“Con artists?”
“Dishonest people who trick others for personal gain. They get their target to trust them with anything valuable before making off with it.”
“They must be very sneaky to achieve that…”
“Successful con artists always are. They usually seem very likable and easy to trust.”
“… Is that why you thought me meeting Cory was an ‘interesting coincidence’?”
“He moved into the neighborhood only a couple of months after the trial’s end. I knew they had a son by that name. If this was the same boy… Of course, Wilder is fairly common last name, so I didn’t really have any proof at that point… Nothing conclusive until you told me that his aunt told you to ask me about his parents.”
I’m in shock. If all this is true, then that means that Cory would have a grudge against Father. Does this mean that he was using me? While I try to make sense out of all this, Father picks up the folder and fishes out another profile: Deiphen Sieve.
“She was a witness at their trial,” he explains, gazing at the text. “She didn’t know about her sister’s con, but as the police were closing in on the couple, they entrusted some of their stolen goods with her, telling her their export business was in trouble. Once she found out that what her sister left her was stolen property, she handed them over as evidence, but said she didn’t wish to hear anymore. I think she didn’t want to spoil the image of the sister she used to know.”
“… Father, do you think he was tricking me the same way his mom and dad tricked people?” I ask reluctantly.
“Only speculation. Children usually take after their parents,” he answers, putting the profiles away. “But then again, it’s possible that he means well…”

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WARNING! WARNING!: GS4 characters appear. I don't think there are any spoilers, but if you're trying to avoid any info about GS4 until it comes out where you live, then don't read any further. End of Warning

Also, this is... kinda... long...

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The next day, Sunny still isn’t ready to make up. I’m still trying to figure things out anyway. Father told me a lot yesterday. So Cory’s parents were con artists, bad guys. That doesn’t make Cory one too, right? He seems nice enough… Is that how a con artist works? The school day ends and Sunny speeds out the door dragging Cory along. He looks as hesitant as usual… The one thing that Father and Mother always tell me is not to assume things without proof. I take my time packing up. I walk home slowly, still thinking about everything I found out yesterday…
“THERE HE IS! GET HIM!!”
…Until I’m dragged back down to earth by the neighborhood bullies. Before I can react, they grab me by the backpack and slam me to the ground. My face really hurts from hitting the sidewalk so hard and one of them is twisting my arm behind my back. I can’t help but scream. Their boss lifts his leg to crush my head under his boot. I shut my eyes, praying that someone will help me…
“HEY, YOU PUNKS!”
My eyes spring open in surprise. The older boys look up at the person who just yelled. It’s a tough looking grown up wearing an apron from the bakery. He has a snarling foxish face and funky hair that looks like fox ears.
“YOU THINK GANGING UP ON ONE WIMPY LIL KID IS MANLY?! HUH?!” he growls, banging his fist into his palm. He looks ready to beat up the bullies as badly as they were going to beat me up. They decide to make a run for it rather than fight a grown up.
“YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT! YOU BETTER RUN!” he roars at them. Then he turns to me. I thought he was helping me, but he looks like he wants to beat me up too. He grabs me by the back of my jacket and pulls me off the ground.
“And as for you,” he snarls. “You’re the little coward who always runs through here with that girl and messes everything up!”
“She only does that so that the bigger kids can’t catch us to beat us up!” I explain, trying to talk him out of punching me.
“Hiding behind a woman, are you?!” he scowls. “What kind of man are you?!”
I brace myself for whatever punishment he has for me, but he just sets me down and leads me by the arm.
“Well, come on, Flinchy,” he barks. “She ran into the shop asking us to get them to lay off.”

It’s not long before we get to the bakery, but we’re both surprised to see Sunny already there with a… er… large lady glaring at her and threatening her with a broom. The owner of the bakery is trying to calm her down while Cory looks absolutely terrified at what’s going on.
“Now now, my little sugar plum, please calm yourself,” the store owner coaxes.
“Mom, Pops, what’s the damage?” the foxish grown-up asks. “Did she try to mess up the store again?”
“Worse than that,” says the large lady, who is apparently the owner’s wife. “We caught the little monster trying to run off with some of our sweets!”
“I’m telling you! I didn’t do it!” Sunny cries, angry tears streaming down her face. “I don’t know how they got in my backpack! I wouldn’t steal! Not without sending you a note first!”
“Hah! What kind of a thief would warn her victims before stealing?”
“Mask*DeMasque would! My mom and dad told me all about him!”
“Can someone tell me exactly what happened?!” I interrupt. The two stop their arguing and take a deep breath.
“Well, she was running through the shops, making messes as usual when the neighborhood punks got distracted by something,” the owner’s wife explains. “She ran in here and the boy followed her. Well, I knew what kind of bullies those punks were so I was willing to let them behind the counter to hide them. She told us you were getting beat up out there so Wocky ran off to help you out. Of course, we didn’t realize it was just a diversion.”
“I told you, I didn’t steal them!” Sunny screams at her.
“Three of our freshest chocolate covered éclairs, still warm and gooey from the oven, were found in your backpack with your grubby fingerprints on them!”
“They aren’t mine!”
“Chocolate? Fingerprints?” I interrupt again, getting an idea. “Sunny, show them your hands!”
Sunny looks confused, but shows her hands. There’s no chocolate on them, just as I thought. My mind races. This must be the way Mother and Father feel in court when they’re on to something. I quickly ask everyone to show me their hands. The melted chocolate on the éclairs are never touched until they’re bought and there was no time for the thief to run to the bathroom to wash their hands. Only two people have traces of chocolate on their hands.
“Wocky!” his mother scolds.
“Whaaaat?! They’re really good!” he argues back. “And it’s our store anyway!”
“You don’t even wash your hands properly after you eat them?! You could be spreading germs to our customers!” she howls before dragging Wocky back inside by the ear.
The storekeeper, Sunny, and I, however, are more focused on the real culprit. No, Wocky couldn’t have done it. He was helping me when it happened. The one who framed Sunny is…
“Cory?” Sunny asks in a faint voice, eyes tearing up again. “No… it can’t be…”
“So Father was right after all…” I murmur.
“Why did you do it, boy?” the shopkeeper asks sternly.
Cory says nothing for a moment. Soon his face distorts into an ugly sneer.
“I should have expected as much from you,” he drawls, completely different from the Cory we knew. “But I guess you’re not smart enough to have had me figured out all along, huh? How long have you known?”
“Your aunt helped me yesterday and told me to ask Mother and Father about your parents,” I tell him in a bold voice. “That was enough to prove a few of Father’s suspicions. He told me about why they are in prison.”
“Prison?” Sunny gasps.
“But I think Father had you figured out from the beginning,” I continue. “So that’s how con artists work… You manipulated everyone since the day you came here, especially Sunny. You talked her into climbing off school property just to see if you could. And you froze on purpose the first time we walked home together, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, just to see what kind of friends you two were. I regretted it though,” he replies in a careless tone. “Wasn’t worth the bruises.”
“Then, on the weekend that Officer Dabble was helping your aunt with the furniture, you were the one who mentioned the haunted house and talked Sunny into going in. When I told you to call the police, you ran straight home and told him what happened in such a way that he would be angry at us, but not you.”
“Yeah, well I didn’t want anyone to die, you know? I’m not that heartless,” he comments without any sign of guilt.
“You were the one who hid Sunny’s backpack so that she would be really late that morning. You volunteered to clean up, so when Sunny and I ran outside to play, you hid her backpack in a place where she’d never look.”
“How’d you finally find it under the recliner anyway?” he asks her. Sunny is too choked up to answer.
“You talked me into leaving without her that morning without asking her what the problem was. And I bet that for the past two days, you cleverly persuaded her to stay mad at me, finally leading up to this.”
“Well, bravo,” he taunts. “You’re just like your dad.”
“But why?” I ask. “Did you really think you could get your revenge on my father this way?”
“Hah! I’m not stupid! Of course not!” he scoffs. “Your family broke up mine. My intention was to break you.”
I feel the color drain from my face and Sunny looks pale too.
“Sunny was your protection and you were her conscience,” he continues. “I knew if I could make you two split up, you’d get beat up everyday and I could land her in real trouble. If she was locked away in Juvenile Hall, you’d blame yourself for not being there to talk her out of it. But no matter what I said, she was still stuck on that high and mighty phantom thief honor cr—”
“But why’d you have to bring Sunny into this?!” I demand.
“Because she was so easy to control,” he sneers, gazing at her. “And as my father always said, ‘If someone is gullible enough to fall for it, they deserved to be conned.’”
Although the shopping district is busy around us, I can only hear our stunned silence.
“Come on, boy. I’m calling the police… and your aunt,” the shopkeeper says as he grabs Cory by the wrist and leads him inside. Sunny and I walk the rest of the way home. She cries silently next to me. I don’t blame her…

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And the epilogue...

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I run down the street, chasing the phantom thief running ahead of me. Mask or not, I know very well who it is.
“You’ll never catch me, Detective!” her familiar voice laughs triumphantly, her bag of loot slung over her shoulder.
“The law always wins!” I yell back.
With the cape, the silver mask, and the bright colors, it’s very hard not to spot her even in the dark of night. Phantom thieves are too theatrical for their own good. I’ve finally caught up and her cape is almost within reach…
“Sunny, Greg, will you stop playing around?” Sunny’s father calls out to us. “Come on! If you don’t start trick or treating now, all the candy will be gone!”
We stop our cops and robbers game and run back to Sunny’s dad, who is wearing his well-made Mask*DeMasque costume that matches Sunny’s like he does every year. He turns to Father and Mother who are dressed as they usually are.
“Are you sure you don’t want to join in?”
“We’ll be staying at home, thank you,” Father answers, staring at Mr. DeLight with disbelief at what he’s wearing.
Mr. DeLight only shrugs. “Your loss,” he says.

Trick or treating is as fun as always. We saw some interesting costumes this year.
“Hey, look! Jeffery’s the Doctor from Doctor Who!” she exclaims, pointing at a kid in a suit who’s struggling under a big cardboard TARDIS that’s clearly full of candy. Looking at her own Mask*DeMasque bag that’s already at least three times bigger than mine, she mumbles, “…I wanna try that next year.”
We all laugh over that, but we freeze when we pass by Cory’s house. Mr. DeLight is a little puzzled why we stopped at first, but recognizes the house immediately.
“… Why don’t we skip that one?” he asks. We nod and move on. We promised each other we wouldn’t talk about him. We haven’t seen Cory since that day. We don’t want to see him…

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Thanks for reading! ... And if you didn't that's fine too.

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Interesting ending. It wasn't at all what I was expecting. I really didn't picture Cory to be a con-artist; I imagined Cory vowing to be different from his parents. I would have liked to see more of Cory's background. (But then again, I'm a sucker for that sort of thing). Overall I thought the fic was very well done. I'd love to see more writing with all these characters! <3 Sunny and Greg!

There's going to be a sequel... Or there would be if I could actually finish the stupid thing! *still hasn't reach the first trial day yet*

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Really great fic, Android! *Hands Android a special cookie* I'll be looking forward to the sequel.

Wow... That's all I can say. usually I don't read fanfic but because it was you I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did.

6/5 (1 extra for the doctor who refrence)

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"Because it was me"? O_o Do I know you?

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