And finally, the epilogue...

CAuthoria-The Candidate- Alisa clearly had no idea what she was really up against...

ROCuevas- Wait no more, the conclusion is here!

decode9- Glad you enjoyed it.

And now... ON WITH THE SHOW!

Law & Order: Leanbox

The Lynx

by Derald Snyder

Epilogue

DISTRICT COURT

ALLOCUTION

SEPTEMBER 22, 10:10 AM

"...after I was thrown out on the street by the scientists who created me, I had to do whatever I could to fend for myself," Tenten Ryghts stated as she stood from behind the defense's bench, Rei sitting to her right, Jared and Rizzoli listening patiently from the other bench. "Whenever I tried to greet someone, they would always mistake me for Rei Ryghts," she nodded to her 'sister', "and either run away screaming or pull a firearm on me, forcing me to run away." She paused to take a breath. "So you see, Your Honor, stealing was a necessity for me at first... a little food here, a little money there... I actually got caught once, but the policeman just thought I was a bad cosplayer and let me off with a warning... I was more careful to avoid the police after that."

"In fact, I started to get a bit of a thrill from evading authority... they called me a cat burglar, but I thought that sounded lame, so I looked up similar felines, and dubbed myself 'The Lynx' instead. I started to get bolder with my heists, and eventually stole enough to barter and make myself a matching outfit and mask to go with my name... I started announcing my heists in advance for a bigger challenge, and I would outwit those clueless LEOs every single time... until Detective Eddie Green nearly caught me. The rest, I'm sure you know..."

The judge nodded at this. "Mr. McCoy?"

Jared stood up at his name being called. "Miss Ryghts, did you ever have any contact with the scientists after they threw you out?"

"No. But I did leave an anonymous tip for the authorities once I'd stolen enough to afford a pay phone call..." Tenten allowed herself a slight smile. "I confess I was quite giddy when I heard they'd been shut down by the army... served them right."

The prosecutor couldn't help but smirk at this. "The plea is satisfactory to The People, Your Honor."

"Very well. Tenten Ryghts," the judge declared, "In accordance with the plea agreement reached with the DA, this court sentences you to incarceration in a medium-security facility, for a term of no less than 10 years, and no more than 20, with possibility of parole for good behavior. We're adjourned." He banged his gavel, before standing and exiting the courtroom.

Tenten's smile faded as she turned to her sister. "Rei... will you come visit me in prison, next time you're in Leanbox?"

"Of course," Rei nodded, "though I don't know when that will be. But you have to promise me something... No more sticky fingers. You behave yourself, and do what the guards tell you... er, w-within reason, th-that is."

"I will. I promise." The clone then turned to the bailiff. "I'm ready now." The bailiff nodded, escorting her out of the courtroom, Rei watching her go with a hint of sadness...

LEANBOX CITY DINER

NON-SMOKING SECTION

SEPTEMBER 22, 7:13 PM

"I must congratulate you all on a job well done," Vert said as she sat at the front of the table with Rei, Jared, Rizzoli, Eddie, and Crisco. "Thanks to you all, Dirk Lotson can rest in peace, a grave threat to Leanbox has been thwarted, and justice has been served!"

"Hear, hear!" said Crisco as he raised his glass, everyone else doing the same. "So Rei, you think your sister'll be able to reform herself?"

"I th-think she's honest about t-trying," the bluenette nodded. "I c-certainly hope sh-she c-can..."

"Well, if you need any advice about younger sisters, I've got my older sister on speed dial," Rizzoli said. "I'm sure she's got plenty of stories to tell you about me..."

"She could always just ask Lady Blanc when she gets back to Lowee," Jared added.

"Don't let her hear you say that," Vert said, causing a round of chuckles.

"Don't worry, I'm not thinking of going skiing anytime soon," McCoy snarked.

"Still, it's gotta be strange, having a sister come outta nowhere like that, huh Rei?" Eddie spoke up.

"N-no kidding," Rei agreed. "Especially since I h-have n-no real family t-to speak of..."

"What, your parents disown you after the whole psycho-goddess episode?" Bennie asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"For your information, worm, I was raised in an orphanage," Rei growled as she briefly slipped into her 'berserk' persona.

"You were?!" Vert gasped. "You mean, no one adopted you?"

"For obvious reasons," Rei tapped her horn protrusion. "The other k-kids always c-called me 'devil kid', and s-stayed f-far away from me... A-at least I m-managed t-to get a scholarship t-to c-college, but even th-there I was sh-shunned, and n-not exactly social..."

The whole table was silent for a few moments. "Wow," Jared finally spoke, "no wonder you didn't believe in the goddesses, after suffering all that..."

"Yeah, really puts some things in perspective," Green added.

"Damn, sorry to bring back bad memories," Crisco sighed. "Probably one of the reasons my wife divorced me..."

"I-it's all right, Detective," Rei assured him. "I know y-you d-didn't mean it..." She heaved a sigh. "Honestly, b-being exiled t-to Lowee was p-probably the b-best thing th-that ever happened t-to me..."

Just then, the waitress walked up with several plates of food. "Okay, here we are... Spaghetti and meatballs?"

"R-right here," Rei held up a hand, wincing as the shadow-woman stared at her.

"...Is it true what they say in the news? That you gained control of your goddess form and helped Lady Vert stop that evil clone CPU?" the NPC asked.

"I've h-had control f-for a while now, ma'am," Rei stated politely.

"She was indeed a great help, though," Vert jumped in. "She managed to hold off that CPU long enough for me to get my second wind and win the day. She's come a long way from her days as a final boss..."

"...Well, that's nice to hear," the waitress nodded as she set Rei's plate down, the lawyer letting her breath out in a rush as the NPC served the others. "Are you paying for everyone, Lady Vert?"

"Of course," the busty goddess nodded. "It's their reward for bringing the case to a satisfying end..."

"And yet you still just have a plain ol' cheeseburger," Eddie ribbed his partner.

"Just stickin' with what I know tastes good," Bennie replied, before taking a bite.

"Nothing wrong with that," said McCoy as he cut his medium-rare steak.

"As long as you don't mind a heart attack," Rizzoli snarked as she dug into her vegetarian dish.

"I'm more of a meat-and-potatoes lady, myself," Vert said as she removed her gloves, before biting into a glazed chicken drumstick. "Mmm, delicious..."

"Funny how we got the same thing," Eddie muttered as he took a bite of his mashed potatoes and gravy. "I woulda thought your tastes were more refined..."

"Hey, she's gotta keep her energy up for all those all-nighter MMOs, right?" Crisco snarked.

Rei nearly choked on her spaghetti in laughter. "You sh-should see the j-junk food she snacks on d-during her guild raids..."

"What the- you promised you wouldn't say anything about that!" Vert gasped as her eyes shrunk to white circles.

The horned woman just smirked sinisterly. "Well, maggot, maybe that'll teach you to trust the word of a former villain, hmm?"

Everyone at the table promptly burst into laughter as the blonde CPU blushed red...

Executive Producer

DICK WOLF

~*Fin*~

Case closed! Hope you had fun reading this story!