Apollo sat in complete silence until Malon waved a hand in front of his face. "Hey, you okay? You look like you've just seen a Poe." This prompted Apollo to pinch and then slap himself.

"What did you do that for?" she asked worriedly.

"Just hoping to God that I was dreaming..."

"God? Don't you mean Goddess?"

"...what?"

"Goddess. Y'know, the three Goddesses? Din, Farore and Nayru?"

"Oh dear God..."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Other than the fact that my head hurts, I'm in the past and that guy is getting away, I'm fine."

Malon's attention quickly shifted over to what he said. "Oh! Right! That man! Don't worry! I'll get right on that!" She quickly stood up and ran into the house to write a letter to the royal guards. Apollo just sat in thought with his back against the wall.

"The past... the past... I'm in the past! How?! How can I be in the past?! It makes no sense! This has to be some kind of dream... but then why is the pain real?! Where are Trucy and Athena? Are they here too? What am I gonna say to Mr. Wright?!

"GAH! This is so stupid! Why?! Why did Athena suggest the Suicide Forest?! Why did I go along with it?! WHY DID TRUCY HIDE IN THE SUITCASE?! Especially when we're going to a place that's literally known as the Suicide Forest! She didn't even know what kind of danger she was in! And it's my fault for suggesting that we go on vacation in the first place! No... it's ATHENA'S fault for suggesting we go to the Suicide Forest! No... it's TRUCY'S fault because she hid inside of the suitcase the entire time! It's ALL our faults!

"Okay, calm down... calm down, Apollo... this... this is nothing. You've put up with far worse. You can survive this... maybe... just maybe there's a way I can get back... after all, whose to say that I'm in the past? Maybe I just stumbled on some ancient land that has been cut off from society for a long time... or maybe I'm in one of those places that is just roleplaying like they're in the old days! Yeah! That explains it! That Malon girl... she's probably just an actor... but that is some GOOD acting... she acts like she doesn't know what I'm talking about... that and she guessed all those jobs when she asked me what I did for a living... and I don't even think there ARE any more adventurers in today's society... maybe I really am in the past...

"...oh, God! I AM in the past! And I'm gonna be stuck in the past forever! Why?! Why me of all people?! I don't understand! What have I done wrong?! I'll never see Athena or Trucy or Mr. Wright or anybody else ever again! Not that they would WANT to see me! To them, I'm just a glorified toilet cleaner! I'm an assistant to a magic act! I'm the punching bag! Why me?! I hate this! I want to go home! But how the hell am I gonna get back?! I'm not strong enough OR smart enough to find myself a way back!

"...what am I saying?! There is NO way I'm gonna back down from this! Sure, I'm in the past... so what?! Athena would never give up on me! Neither would Mr. Wright! Or Trucy either! They care about me... they would tell me to keep going! As Mr. Wright said... The worst times for a lawyer are when they have to force their biggest smiles! I can do this! I'm fine! I am Apollo Justice and I'm FINE!"

"Can I get you something to eat?" Malon asked after a bit.

"I'M FINE!" Apollo shouted.

Malon stared at him in surprise for a few seconds. Apollo slowly blushed and put on a nervous face. "S-Sorry. I mean, I'm fine. I don't need anything right now."

"...do you think you can tell me what the man looked like?" Malon asked after a long pause. Apollo shook his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't get a good look at him. All I know was that I saw feathers all over him. I also remember a faint bit of green... but that's about it."

Malon nodded. "That'll do for now." She wrote down what Apollo said on a piece of paper, rolled it up into a scroll, tied it to the end of a pidgeon and told it "To the castle." Upon hearing this, the pidgeon took flight in the direction towards the castle.*

"If you don't mind," Apollo started, "I think I'm gonna go check out the scene and see if I can't get a few clues from it." Malon nodded. "That's fine by me. Dad's out on delivery and I'm not sure where Mr. Ingo is. He's probably paying his respects to that terrible Lord Ganondorf."

Apollo stood up and walked out of the house and towards the chicken coop. All the while, he was thinking about the three people he had just learned about: Malon's dad, someone named Ingo and Lord Ganondorf. When he got the chance, he would have to ask Malon more about them later.

Opening the door up to the chicken coop, the first thing he immediately noticed was a bootprint that had been left in the hay. "Better take a note of this... no markings on the bottom... just a plain boot. Right foot... around eleven... eleven and a half, maybe?"

-Mysterious Bootprint added to the Court Record-

Mysterious Bootprint: Found inside of the chicken coop at Lon Lon Ranch. Smooth on the bottom. Identity of who it belongs to is unknown.

Taking another look around, he saw a couple of feathers lying in a corner. All seemed to have some damage dealt to them as they had signs of cuts on them. This meant that whatever had attacked the cuccos had used a blade of some kind. And that sword that the perpetrator had was most likely the weapon used.

-Damaged Feathers added to the Court Record-

Damaged Feathers: Found inside of the chicken coop at Lon Lon Ranch. Shows sign of cuts, meaning a blade was used to damage the cuccos.

Apollo took one last look around to see if he could spot at least one last clue, but nothing jumped out at him right then and there. Looking a bit closer, Apollo found a bloodstain near the corner of the coop. He noted that this was the same corner that the culprit had driven the cuccos into. From what he could deduce, the blood belonged to the abused cuccos. Strangely though, there was no blood anywhere else in the coop. He took note of this too.

-Bloodstain added to the Court Record-

Bloodstain: Discovered in the corner the cuccos were forced into when the culprit attacked them. No other blood stains were found inside of the coop itself.

"That's probably all I'm going to get for now," Apollo said to himself. "Whoever did this has a lot coming at him. Animal abuse and assault... if the justice system in this time is the same as it is in my time, which I'm sure it's not, then whoever did this is going to pay dearly." Apollo finally retired his investigation and went back inside to clear his mind a bit.

Just then, Malon walked out of the room upstairs and saw him sitting with his back against the wall. "Y'know," she said out loud to get his attention. "You sure yell pretty loudly..."

Apollo scratched the back of his head. "Heheh... yeah... I'm well known for my Chords of Steel."

"Sounds to me like those 'Chords of Steel' are sharper than a double-edged sword."

"Sharper than a double edged sword? Hah! Wait until Prosecutor Blackquill hears this!"

"Why are you pumping your fists?" Malon asked, a little bit concerned.

Apollo's eyes turned to dots. "Uh... I'm... really proud of my Chords of Steel. It's the only really noticable feature about me."

Malon chuckled. "That hair of yours begs to differ. You look like a red demon."

"Ngh!" Apollo grunted, thinking back to Jinxie and her paper charms. He could still feel the pain of having them slapped onto his head. "Either way," Apollo started. "I'm not supposed to be here. I need to get back to..." He paused for a second and debated whether he should tell her the truth or keep her going on a lie. "...my own kingdom."

"Oh, you're from another kingdom?" Malon asked with stars in her eyes. "That is so neat! What is it like in your kingdom?" Apollo scratched the back of his head. "Well, I suppose it's like any other kingdom. Castle, farms, forests, mountains, towns... the works."

"What's it called?" Malon asked, drawing a gulp from Apollo. "What was that?" he asked. "I said, what's it called?" she repeated. Apollo pressed his finger to his forehead in an attempt to think clearer. "Uh... I come from... the kingdom of... uh..."

Flashback

"Wait a minute, are you saying that you hid yourself in the suitcase on purpose?"

Trucy deadpanned. "...is the Steel Samurai the warrior of Neo Olde Tokyo?"

"What does the Steel Samurai have to do with any of this?! You snuck out of the office!"he retorted.

End Flashback

"...the Kingdom of Neo Olde Tokyo," Apollo finished.

The two of them sat in silence for a bit. After a while, Malon finally spoke up. "'Neo... Olde... Tokyo?' That's a strange name for a kingdom," she commented. Apollo chuckled on the outside while on the inside he was scolding himself. "It suuuure is..."

After a while, the pidgeon that Malon had sent earlier had arrived with another letter. Malon took the letter off of the pidgeon's leg and read it out loud, until she suddenly stopped and dropped the paper. Apollo, finding something odd about the situation, picked up the letter and read it himself.

...

...

...

Dear Miss LonLon,

We have successfully captured the one responsible for the crime committed near you.

Animal Abuse/Assault is a serious charge and I'm sure you will be happy to know that the Hero of Time, Link, has been convicted of his crime and has been thrown into the dungeon.

We thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely, Lord Ganondorf

There you go. That's all I can put out for now, but be sure to stick around for when this case officially goes to Ganon's Court! ...now that I think about it, doesn't it seem like he would have an unfair advantage? And someone has to play the role of the Prosecutor. Who could it be, hmm?

Thank you for reading. Please favorite, follow, review or all three. I'll see you guys next time.