196 Gates Of Valhalla

Can you feel it, can you feel it
Can you feel my heartbeat beating
I can’t live without you anymore
I can’t deny it, can’t deny it
I can’t deny it, I’m still trying
I can’t breathe without you anymore

Now that we’ve walked through the fire
We’re burned by still side by side
Side by side, side by side

Our love will rise
Rise from the ashes
Rise, rise from the ashes
We’ll burn this darkness away
Till only fire remains
Our love, our love will
Rise from the ashes

Never finding, never finding
Never finding, we’re so blinded
Our love was buried, underground
I’m always chasing, always chasing
I’m always chasing ’cause
We’re worth saving
Don’t you surrender, not now

Sometimes just burning the past
Is the way to make it last
Make it last, make it last

Our love will rise
Rise from the ashes
Rise, rise from the ashes
We’ll burn this darkness away
Till only fire remains
Our love, our love will
Rise from the ashes

It’s a burning desire
And I’m pulling you through this
Through the flames, through the flames, through the flames

So prepare for the fire
As we learn who we are
Through the flames, through the flames, through the flames

Our love will rise
Rise from the ashes
Rise, rise from the ashes
We’ll burn this darkness away
Till only fire remains
Our love, our love will
Rise from the ashes

Ema Skye and Klavier Gavin
Criminal Affairs
July 21, 2026

“Please don’t cry,” Klavier whispered, his lips brushing against the top of her silky hair as her sobs slowly began to subside. “I’ll get you to your sister if it’s the last thing I do.”

Lifting her head to searchingly stare up into his compassionate gaze, something registered through the depths of Ema’s tormented misery.

“Really?” There was a glimmer of hope on her ethereal mien, although her eyes were still brimming with tears as they peered up at him. “Y – You can get me to Lana?”

Those spellbinding eyes would someday be his undoing, for those jewel-like orbs were the heart and center of the most beauteous woman he’d ever known, both inside and out.

Klavier swallowed the lump in his throat and belatedly acknowledged that despite how unseemly it probably was to still be holding her in his arms, given her vulnerable state, he nonetheless couldn’t allow himself to release her from his embrace.

Not just yet.

Klavier’s pavonine gaze was intense as he looked down at her.

I will stand by you. I will help you through. When you’ve done all you can do, if you can’t cope, I will dry your eyes. I will fight your fight. I will hold you tight. And I won’t let go.

She matched his penetrating stare, her formerly glassy teal eyes now glowing with a warm certainty that went soul-deep, as though she’d somehow heard the poignant words his heart was crying out, but his recalcitrant lips wouldn’t allow him to say.

“I am a man of my word.” His husky tone was filled with solemn veracity, and his eyes emanated pure, heartfelt sincerity as they stared deeply into hers. “Ema, I promise you…”

His avowal was cut-off at that moment by the scathing, rambunctious drawl that suddenly reverberated in the air.

“Hold it right there, you scoundrel! If you don’t want to galvanize my itchy trigger finger, I reckon you got about five seconds to git those grubby mitts of yours off my Bambina!”

The unexpected intrusion had left the prosecutor, not for the first time in his life, feeling as though a bucket of frigid water had been poured over his head, the embers of the warm, tender moment they’d been sharing just seconds ago now wholly extinguished due to the unexpected arrival in their midst.

“Heiliger Strohsack!”

Ema’s eyes widened in incredulity as they fell on the large figure looming in the doorway, while the gobsmacked Klavier dumbly obliged the stranger’s command, dropping his hands off the grief-struck policewoman as though they’d been scorched.

The Gavinners erstwhile singer barely resisted the urge to cower behind the detective’s desk as the man kicked the door with the heel of his cowboy boot, shutting it with a heavy thud.

Mein Gott! This mad man is shooting me a look that would have made Medusa proud!

Their impromptu visitor was considerably older than the German, appearing to be in his late ’30s to early ’40s. And while the blond man prided himself on maintaining his year-round golden coloring, and was considered tanned even by California standards, the other man’s weathered visage was still considerably darker. With his deep bronze coloring, longish, nearly ebon hair, and deep-set dark eyes, he appeared to be at least of partially Native American descent; he was even wearing a hand-woven poncho draped over his wide shoulders. However, the loose-fitting garment did nothing to disguise that He-Of-Lethal-Weapon-Glare, although standing a couple of inches shorter, was incontrovertibly more broadly and powerfully built than the prosecutor.

Moreover, despite being older and comparatively lacking in stature, an air of unmistakable intimidation nevertheless surrounded the tower of hulking, heaving muscle looming in the policewoman’s doorway, one that crackled around him like a dangerous air of electricity.

Ach Du meine Güte!

Klavier’s stupefaction was rapidly being replaced by trepidation as he found himself being subjected to the mother of all threatening glowers. Had it been humanly possible to see real-life steam actually emanate from one’s nose, like a bull about to charge, then surely the imposing intruder would need no goading of a red-cape and the call of Torro, Torro to come charging right at him!

Obviously, the presumed compromising position the stranger had found them in was the cause of the homicidal glint in his eye, although, for the life of him, the attorney couldn’t figure out why! His mind quickly flashed back to the flowers Ema had gotten on Valentine’s Day, which she’d claimed were not from a suitor, but from her sister, Lana.

Therefore, Klavier had since surmised – perhaps erroneously! – that no admirer was waiting in the wings that he could’ve possibly been aware of up until now; and surely not one who could misconstrue what was supposed to be a mere comforting embrace between him and his subordinate.

Ach du Lieber Himmel! If that’s the case, I’ve got so much egg on my face that you’d think I was bukkaked by an entire henhouse!

How else to explain the menacing stranger looking like he wanted to superglue the ex-rocker’s Glied to his stomach and thence ensure he’d piss right up his own nose?!

Evidently, I am suffering the ill fate of an inept, bungling person who suffers from unremitting bad luck! However, never could I have dreamed I would ever be both the schlemiel – the one who spills the soup and the schlimazel – the one that’s spilled on, simultaneously!

Contrary to what his present charming and affable persona would have suggested, growing up as the youngest in the Gavin House of Horrors hadn’t been much of a fairytale life. The emotionally distant family patriarch, Koen, had been the original Ron Swanson; a textbook definition of emotionally unavailable. He’d raised his sons with the notion that tears were only acceptable in two places: funerals and the Grand Canyon.

Nevertheless, Koen’s aloofness had been a cakewalk compared to the ways of the suffocatingly salubrious helicopter mother known as Kharmen. The fastidious, overbearing matriarch was indisputably the root cause of the eldest fruit of her loins bearing such a hyperbolic, cleanliness is next to godliness disposition.

Unsurprisingly, Kristoph’s subsequent solipsism and Beau Brummell ways were likely a side effect of Kharmen having kept their pristine childhood mansion as aseptic as a mausoleum, with about as much inviting warmth.

The older Gavin sibling’s hubristic Narcissism, however, was likely chalked up to far too many smothering hugs and gratuitous praise heaped upon him by their doting Mutter, (and, possibly, the fact that he’d been breastfed until he’d been “48 months old”) who was convinced that her precious firstborn son could do no wrong.

If Kharmen had still been alive and discovered her treasured progeny was presently incarcerated for murder, she would never have believed the veracity behind the outcome of this fate. And even if the resigned Koen had tried to give her a reality check, his wife still would have been unconvinced, insisting that Shadi Smith somehow, in some way, had had it coming!

And then the corybantic spitfire would have come down on the courts like the hammer of Thor, and the thunder of her vengeance would have reverberated through these corridors like the gust of a thousand winds!

Therefore, was it any kind of shocker that Klavier had thence tried to distance himself from all this lunacy by losing himself in music? It’d been his sole escape from being Kristoph’s cannily orchestrated schlimazel. He’d lost count of how many unfortunate contretemps his older brother had ensured he’d fallen victim to growing up.

The anterior rock star had been a natural performer since childhood, with early stumbling blocks like most others. When he was eight, he’d tried to demonstrate to the cute girl next door how good he’d gotten at doing frontal flips in his basement. The first time, he’d been so nervous that he’d landed smack on his face. Hearing his crush’s horrified cry, accompanied by the subsequent thump, his folks had come running. They’d found their youngest son, unscathed, standing up and smiling, and asked him what happened.

While proudly describing what’d transpired, Klavier had reenacted the event, only this time went crashing into the unnoticed skateboard carelessly left out on the floor. It was the same one his father had always sternly reminded Kristoph, (who’d used it all of one time in his unsuccessful efforts to impress some skater-girl who’d later snubbed him) to put away, in case someone stepped on it and got hurt.

The impact of the collision with the wheeled item had resulted in the youngest Gavin breaking his nose and suffering a cheek laceration, requiring seven agonizing stitches.

It hadn’t been the first time the boy had suffered from his sibling’s cruelty, nor would it be the last.

Rather than rejoicing when he’d found out his precocious little brother had been accepted to the prestigious Themis Legal Academy, the rancorous Kristoph had been green with envy, instead.

Seething at the notion that the younger Gavin would thus have a fast track to becoming a prosecutor at the tender age of 17, instead of having to go the whole nine yards and endure 7 years of full-time legal studies as he had, Kristoph had nevertheless retained his sangfroid demeanor. Mindful of the sterile mansion they called home, and as cold as the reptilian heart of a Draconian lawmaker, the Coolest Defense in the West, had calmly laid down a plastic sheet on the living room sofa…

… Right before throwing the sloshy, frosty contents of his mango margarita glass into the unsuspecting Klavier’s unprepared face.

Ach Du meine Güte! Neither that moment nor a lifetime of being the luckless schlimazel to Kristoph’s intentional schlemiel antics could have prepared me for this latest bucket of cold water to mein kisser!

At that moment, however, being doused by a whole pitcher of chilly cocktails would have been welcome, had it given him a moment’s reprieve from the continued baleful glare he was currently being subjected to, which could’ve stripped the hair off of a cat!

“I may have lost my right to carry a shooting iron, though I darn tootin’ don’t need no weapons to make my jack against the tenderfoot likes of you!” The man pointed an accusing finger at Klavier, eyes narrowed into tiny slits. “You might be a younger buckeroo but nine years in the hoosegow with three hots and cot, with nothing else to do but lift weights, means this bronco here is in enough top Apple Pie Order to tan your hide!”

Klavier was too floored to reply. Hoosegow?! Tan his hide?! He was being subjected to violent threats from an ex-convict?!

“Just to let you know, boy, I ain’t trapped in here with you – you’re trapped in here with me!” The man deftly reached behind him and locked the door, not once taking his eyes off the nerve-wracked lawyer. “Now, saddle up and man up, you dang scallywag! Spare me any tarradiddles and – right before I beat you like the redheaded stepchild of a rented mule! – fess up about what in tarnation you did to my Bambina!”

Klavier cast a startled sideways glance at the gaping Ema, who’d stopped crying by now, and looked as stupefied as he felt.

“Your … Bambina?” He repeated blankly, feeling his head beginning to spin. “Fräulein Detective is your … Frau?”

Ema, at last, broke free from her stupor.

“Jake!” The overwrought science lover made a beeline for Lana’s fiancé, lurched herself into his open arms, and buried her face against his chest. “Jake Marshall! It’s you! It’s really you!”

The cowboy’s fierce expression softened like magic.

“In the flesh and above snakes!” He tightly squeezed the young woman he’d always loved like a little sister. “Reckoned you didn’t recognize me anymore for a spell there, girl! You looked like you were seeing a three-headed alien dance a chorus line!”

“You’re – you’re not in prison anymore!”

“You bet your britches, Bambina.” The ex-detective chuckled slightly, his face breaking into a wide ear-to-ear grin. “This old cowboy has flown the coop at last! Figured I’d mosey over to see good ol’ Gumshoe at my former stompin grounds first. Never dreamed you’d end up in my old office though!”

Tentatively assuming he’d been given a few more moments delay to having his face rearranged, Klavier finally spoke, using what he hoped was a composed, matter of -of-fact manner – although the slightly amused Ema could tell that he was as casual as an Haute Couture model posing in swimwear.

“Ah, I take it you used to work here at this precinct, Herr Marshall?”

“Well, don’t you get the Understatement Of The Year tiara, Princess?” Wrapping a protective arm around the petite brunette’s shoulders, Jake affixed the other man with his best penetrating stare. “Care to grow a pair of cojones now, skip the flannel-mouthed bit, and fess up now about what you did to upset my future sister-in-law?”

“Schwägerin – er, sister-in-law?!” Any previous fear Klavier may have had about getting his Arsch kicked was immediately eclipsed by the inescapable relief that:

a) this man was not a rival for Ema’s affection whatsoever

b) had merely been acting in the manner of a protective Big Brother role with his threatening, ergo was not a deranged lunatic because…

c) he was a former policeman and had been friendly with the benign Dick Gumshoe.

Birds of a feather flocked together, right? Or so he hoped, anyway!

“Oh, Jake, you silly Papa Bear!” Ema shook her head and smiled up at the cowboy affectionately. “You completely misunderstood what you saw! Yes, I was upset when you came in, but I swear, this man was a source of solace and not my sorrow althoughI can certainly understand how it may have appeared that way!”

Buoyed by this defense, Klavier nodded earnestly.

“Fräulein Detective had just gotten some unfortunate news and I was merely trying to offer her comfort. You see, I’m her boss, so that factor alone should make it very evident that I was not acting in any sort of untoward manner, nor could I ever be the cause of such distress.”

The anterior patrolman visibly reduced the intensity of his glare but still eyed the DA suspiciously.

“I hope you’re not lying. They shoot you for that in Texas, pardner.”

“Holy cheese and tiny little crackers, Jake Marshall!” The detective exclaimed in exasperation, playfully smacking him on the arm. “Cool it with the fatuous Rhinestone Cowboy schtick, will you? We both know your LA-born behind would rather be eating rigatoni than rawhide and that the only Mustang you’ve ever had was the one you drove when you were on the force!”

Autsch! Klavier barely bit back a sympathetic smirk as the older man’s cheeks flushed from being fustigated in such a manner, mild though it’d been. Herr Marshall just got served like baked ziti in a mafia wedding!

Ema Skye truly had a tongue that rivaled barbed wire whenever she felt somebody needed to be taken down a few pegs; the prosecutor couldn’t help but be entertained by the fact that it wasn’t always reserved just for him!

“Forgive me, Bambina. Old habits die hard.” Jake gave a humble bow of his head. “I can’t help but be protective of my best girl’s only kin, especially when I’ve known her since she was knee-high to a grasshopper. No matter that she’s all grown up now. Can’t blame an ex-cop for figuring when there are gunshots, there’s bound to be bullets.”

Releasing his lover’s sister, the former convict folded his arms over his chest and cocked a weary half-smile at the ex-rocker. Since he was no longer primed to open a can of whup-ass, his presence no longer seemed as discomfiting as his grand entrance initially had conveyed; his facial expression was now one of tiredness, a need for nurture, and a chance to rest.

“So, you’re Ema’s superior, are you? I didn’t catch your name.”

“I didn’t throw it.” The prosecutor flashed his most disarming smile and extended his hand, which Jake cordially shook. “Prosecutor Klavier Gavin, Herr Marshall. It’s a pleasure to meet you, although it’s most regrettable that it’s under such unfortunate circumstances.”

“Unfortunate?” Jake’s saucer-sized eyes shifted from Klavier to Ema, who, now that the initial surprise of their joyous reunion had subsided, suddenly seemed to remember the reason she’d been sobbing in the first place; her eyes were already misting over again. “Crimany! You caught this ex-policeman all down but nine here, pardner. What are you jawing about now?”

Klavier cursed his slip of the tongue; he’d gotten way too comfortable in his haste to establish himself as a non-enemy and befriend Jake so quickly. Consequently, while turning up the charm, he’d now grossly overstepped his boundaries. The tragedy that had befallen Lana was not his tale to tell and he prayed Ema wouldn’t despise him, yet again, for the oversight.

The sudden dead silence in the room was putting Jake on edge; Klavier averting his eyes from his prying gaze only made things worse. Breathing harshly now, he placed his hands on the downcast detective’s shoulders and shook them slightly, his tone slightly strained yet pleading.

“Bambina, what’s going on here? What is he talking about?’

“It’s – Lana.” The younger Skye’s jaw began to quiver. “Right before you got here, Chief Gumshoe had called me with the news that she’d been…”

Her voice trembled with emotion as it dropped to a mere whisper.

“…that she’d been shot.”

Jake had suddenly turned very white under his deep tan, staring at Ema as though she were a brick wall and he’d just run into her.

“Shot?” He echoed in disbelief, swiveling his wild-eyed gaze back towards Klavier. “Is this a bluff, or do you mean it for real play?”

The prosecutor spoke solemnly as Ema recommenced sobbing softly.

“It was during Agent Skye’s overseas sting mission. I’m very sorry, Herr Marshall. We have no further update on her condition.”

Jakes’s brain seemed to stutter for a moment and his eyes took in more light than expected; every part of him seemed to go on pause while his thoughts caught up. Finally, after the world’s most pregnant pause, he swallowed hard and clamped a comforting hand on the weeping policewoman’s shoulder.

“Don’t you fret none, Bambina,” he said thickly, obviously struggling to keep his voice even. “Your sister is the strongest girl I know – always has been, always will be. What we gotta do is git you over yonder, faster than a hornet with ‘roid rage.”

Ema nodded bravely and clutched Jake’s hand while attempting to dry her eyes on the sleeve of her lab coat.

“Prosecutor Gavin has kindly offered to find a way to get me over there since I don’t have the money for a red-eye flight.”

“It’s not going to be easy,” Klavier frowned as he looked down at the screen of his mobile, for he had been looking up the departure times at the airport. “No flights are leaving any time within the next four hours. And the one that does leave this evening would take over 30 hours because it has a six-hour stopover.”

“30 hours!” Ema gasped and clapped a hand to her cheek. “We don’t have that kind of time!”

“Unfortunately, yes. The flight would have to stop at Heathrow Airport, then switch planes on Air Estonia, as there are no direct flights to Borginia. It would take anywhere from 16 to 24 hours.”

“There’s got to be another way!” She cried, then clutched at her brother-in-law’s hands, as if for strength. “Also, you should be there, too, Jake! You’re the love of Lana’s life!”

“Even if I had the money, I’m afraid I ain’t going nowhere.” Jake sighed ruefully. “I’ve been incarcerated since February 2017, and my passport’s long since expired. Don’t you worry about me, Bambina. You just figure something out with Prosecutor Gavin here, and get over to my Lana.”

“I may have a potential solution,” Klavier ventured cautiously. “It’ll take me about two hours flight plan time, but I’m confident I can get travel permission from the FAA Federal Aviation to take my private jet directly to Borginia.”

He began rapidly tapping the logistics into his phone.

“Including fueling, the proposed flight time shouldn’t take more than 12 hours, since private jets wouldn’t need to worry about factoring in lengthy customs and security like for commercial flights.”

A bud of hope began blooming inside Ema’s chest, although the remaining logical side of her was still trying to iron out any potential wrinkles to the plan.

“Well, I always carry my passport with me, so that’s not an issue. But what about my belongings? I’d have to go home and pack a bag…?”

“Do not concern yourself with such trivialities.” Klavier waved his hand dismissively. “As long as you have the necessary documentation on your person, that will be all you need. We can just buy you any necessities and travel essentials once we get to Europe. We can probably expense it if need be.”

The detective shook her head, trying desperately to maintain her role as the voice of reason, even though her heart was beginning to pound with the buoyant anticipation that maybe, just maybe this would all somehow work itself out.

“There is no way that wretched skinflint, Chief Prosecutor Payne, will ever let either one of us write off one red cent of this trip!”

“Then I’ll cover the cost and just charge everything to my credit card,” he shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve taken off on a whim. I may as well reap some benefit from my glory days as a well-paid rock star … And I can’t think of a better cause than this.”

“You sure are of the first water, pardner,” Jake remarked affably. “My Bambina here sure is lucky to have a boss with such a big heart – and such deep pockets!”

“I know Chief Gumshoe would have no issues with letting giving me leave from work, given the emergency nature of things.” Ema tapped at her chin as she tried to make sure all the bases were covered. “But how about getting to the airport? With LA’s hellacious traffic being the way it is, it would take forever to get to LAX by cab.”

“That one’s easy,” Klavier assured her. “I didn’t have any issues lending my helicopter to Herr Edgeworth last month, nor do I have any qualms extending you the same courtesy, Fräulein Detective.  Mein chopper is on top of the roof of the Prosecutor’s Office, ready to go at any time.”

He turned to Jake.

“Alas, Herr Marshall, there isn’t anything I can do to assist you with your passport issue. Nonetheless, you are more than welcome to join us in my chopper on the trip to the airport. I trust neither you nor Fräulein Detective would have any objections?”

“I can set with that,” Jake nodded and tipped his hat. “Ema and I have a lot of catching up to do. Be nice to at least be able to yarn the hours away in the meantime.”

“While I wait for the relevant authorities to respond to my request, what do you say about accompanying me to the Prosecutor’s Office next door to inform Herr Payne that I will be taking leave?” Klavier offered. “Can I safely assume that if you knew Chief Gumshoe from days of yore, you might have also been acquainted with our Chief Prosecutor?”

“You bet your bottom dollar I was familiar with that old dang peckerwood!”

As the three ventured towards the doors, the two men continued to chat amiably.

“Gumshoe’s a swell fella. Always was. Considered me a mentor of sorts back when he started on the force. I remember I once gave him a small cactus as a welcome gift; he claimed it listened to all his troubles.” Jake smiled at the memory. “Before I went to the clink, I remember telling Phoenix Wright to make sure Billy, my cactus, got his water. That Namby-Pamby Mike Meekins took over the job of guarding the evidence room I heard … which means my old prickly friend is deader than then Macarena now. As for Payne…”

Lana’s betrothed emitted a derisive snort.

“Thunderation and hot toilet wine! That weaselly, yellow-bellied varmint is the Chief Prosecutor? I see court representative standards have plummeted to Valhalla since I was last working as a lawman.”

“It’s just for the interregnum period,” the German chortled. “Herr Payne has valiantly agreed to step into the interim role until Herr Edgeworth steps returns from overseas to take over the role, you see.”

Mr. Edgeworth.

Ema’s heart sank. She’d been so busy weeping to the men about the precarious fate of her beloved sister that she hadn’t even had a chance to talk Klavier, never mind Jake, about how her girlhood crush’s life was also in peril! Both her boss and brother-in-law knew and respected the High Prosecutor and would surely be almost as deeply impacted by the news as she had been.

First Miles Edgeworth, then her sister … they said trouble came in threes. What other inevitable tribulation could still be left for them to face – before they’d even managed to get onto the damn plane?!

Ema Skye and Klavier Gavin
Chief Prosecutor’s Office
July 21, 2026

“No.”

At first, the brunette had been so preoccupied with responding to Gumshoe’s text, indicating that indeed, she had the Chief’s blessing to take the time off for the trip, that she wasn’t quite sure she’d heard the response to Klavier’s request correctly.

Christ on a Crouton! What the hell did that the sack of ass just say?!

The blond appeared to be as confused as a hungry baby in a topless bar.

“No? What do you mean by that, Herr Payne?”

“Did I stutter?” There was a blast of Arctic in Winston’s reedy cadence which surprisingly didn’t frost his coke bottle glasses. “What part of the word no did you not grasp? Mayhap I should have negated your request in German and said nein instead?”

“I meant that I don’t quite follow your rationale, Herr Payne.” The German gaped at the stolid Rookie Killer, who was haughtily looking down his nose at the triad and visibly enjoying every moment of their discomfort. “I certainly have enough vacation time in the bank, so why can’t I take leave for a few days to offer my assistance? I didn’t think this would be an issue at all, seeing as Chief Gumshoe has already allowed emergency leave to Detective Skye, given the tragic circumstances …”

“Save your breath with the brabble, Prosecutor Gavin. While I am truly sympathetic for this tragedy about Jana, nonetheless, we simply cannot spare you right now.”

Jake made a low growl in his throat at the contemptuous misnomer, and Ema had to discreetly put a restraining hand on his forearm. It would do no good to show any sort of hostility or violence towards the sneering shit-flute behind the mahogany desk – not when they needed a favor from him! – despite how much he deserved it!

It’s Lana, not Jana, you insipid slug man! The disingenuous commiseration had Ema clenching her fists inside the pockets of her lab coat as she tried to curb her mounting temper. You aren’t fooling anyone; that pococurante tone makes it quite evident you couldn’t give any less of an aeronautical fornication about me or my poor sister’s dire circumstances!

“Tragedies are an inevitable everyday occurrence, especially in our line of work, and can often leave messy aftermath. Nevertheless, that doesn’t necessarily make you the cleanup crew; we already have perfectly adequate janitorial staff for that reason, Prosecutor Gavin. Frankly, I can’t quite picture stooping to such a role, anyway. Doing so would require humbling yourself and getting those pretty, manicured hands all dirty.” Winston steepled his bony fingers together and flashed the mother of all phony, placid smiles at the trio. “In this case, it’d require you to fetch the old fop and bucket, wouldn’t it?”

Under any other circumstances, the science enthusiast would have found this comical – she had no idea her superior’s nickname had become renowned at the Prosecutor’s Office level! However, there was nothing even remotely funny about their present circumstances dealing with the cold reptilian in their midst bearing more hair than a heart!

“To top it all off, with Edgeworth gone as well, we are all working our fingers to the bone while running on a skeleton staff in the Prosecutor’s Office! Our courts are backlogged, the prisons are overcrowded, and Judge Chambers is constantly agonizing over the potential scupper of our entire department! Therefore, I’m afraid this just won’t do.”

“But Prosecutor Gavin would only be gone a few days, just long enough to get me over to Europe, and then he’d be right back,” Ema interjected meekly, unsure of what else to say in rebuttal to these grim facts. “Surely, you guys can spare him for that short period …”

Winston clucked his tongue reproachfully.

“Things have gotten so behindhand that Judge Chambers has been entertaining the absurd notion of bringing aboard a death-row inmate – who believes himself to be a samurai, for Pete’s sake! Alas, it’s all hands on deck, so read my lips as I state my final magisterial decree on the matter: You’ve got two chances-Slim and None … and Slim left town. Case closed.”

The follicle-challenged prosecutor pressed his thin lips together to the point where they visibly disappeared, making him resemble a balding Muppet.

“Seeing as how that pea-brained Meekins has been allowed back on the force, it’s indicative that the police department isn’t faring much better than the prosecutors are in having good help at their disposal. I’m amazed that mental midget Police Chief even allowed your leave, Detective.”

Jake had reached the end of his rope. It was bad enough to hear Payne’s dismissiveness about his fiancée, but he could not endure another slight toward somebody he cared about, especially not his dear old friend Gumshoe.

Sometimes, my mind wanders off to a happy place, where I’m allowed to punch people in the throat and there are cute puppies and free cake. This is one of the times when I couldn’t care less about turning my fantasy into a reality – and to hell with the repercussions!

“You’d best pull in your horns and watch that bazoo of yours,” the incensed cowboy snarled, jabbing his index so far forward that it was mere inches from the older man’s sneering mug. “Last time I checked; the title of Chief Prosecutor wasn’t a synonym for ‘Patronizing, Pontificating Despot! Just who in seven bloody hells do you think you are, Pablo Picasshole?!”

“Well, lookit what slithered out from underneath the rock from whence it came!” Winston jeered, utterly unfazed about the forefinger in his face. “And who let you out on a day pass, you low-life ex-con?”

“Don’t you dare speak to my brother-in-law that way!” Ema shot him a glare that could have peeled paint. “You’ve got some nerve!”

“How dare you speak to the Chief Prosecutor in such an insolent manner? I’ll have your badge, Detective Skye!” Winston jumped up from his seat, now shrieking at an earsplitting pitch that would’ve made nails on a blackboard sound like angels caroling by comparison. “Respect my authoritah!”

“Like hell, I will!” She shouted, at her wit’s end once more. Her Snackoos were already in hand, fully prepared for catapulting. “You’re not my supervisor!”

“Thank Jesus, Mary, And Joseph Stalin for that!” Winston snapped back, pushing his glasses on top of his head so she could see the full impact of his scornful expression. “I’d most definitely call for early retirement if I had to deal with a sub-par, grumpy, stress-eating, failed forensic scientist as my subordinate and had to witness that sourpuss of yours on a daily basis, to boot!”

Verflixt und zugenäht! That does it!

Up until that moment, Klavier had managed to keep his cool and maintain a pacifist existence for most of his existence, even earlier at Criminal Affairs, when his life had momentarily seemed to be endangered at the hands of an angry former prisoner whose arms were the size of the prosecutor’s head.

Barring that, hearing the woman he loved being attacked, especially when she was already enduring what was undoubtedly the most stressful of situations, was the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

Disregarding the fact that he prided himself on being more of a lover than a fighter, he found himself striding right in front of Jake, his arm shooting out on its own volition, past the former patrolman’s.

“Achtung, Baby!”

Without any further preamble, the prosecutor slapped his palm across the arm of Winston’s bifocals, knocking them clear off his nearly flawless bone china pate, and sending them crashing to the floor.

The sound of shattering glass that immediately followed only further punctuated just how out of control the situation had gotten.

“WAAAHAAAWAAAA!”

“In any other circumstances, I would gladly punch you for speaking so disrespectfully not only to a lady but to an officer of the law in my presence.” Klavier eyed the whimpering Winston stonily, pointedly ignoring the screechy mewls of protest that still emanated from him. “But I won’t, for two good reasons. One, it would mean I have to sully my pretty, manicured hands by touching that phizog that only a mother could love. And two, I am afraid I’d pop you, and all that Scheiß that leaks from your mouth will explode from your head. Because nein, you absolutely are not Detective Skye’s supervisor. What you are, in actuality, Herr Payne is what happens when you cross a slug with an anal fissure.”

Gently placing a hand on both Ema and Jake’s shoulders, he ushered the two of them out of the spluttering, spectacle-free (and now legally blind) Winston Payne’s office with his head high, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Let us go now, Fräulein Detective, Herr Marshall. I just got expedited clearance allowing for takeoff from the FAA. We have a chopper with our names on it up on the roof of this place.”

“And just the hell where do you think you’re going?” The Chief Prosecutor demanded at their retreating backs. “I never gave you permission to go anywhere, so if you leave, it’s the ultimate act of insubordination, Prosecutor Gavin! And not even you are not above the repercussions of such actions!”

Klavier nonchalantly glanced back over his shoulder at his soon-to-be ex-boss.

“Since I was not allowed to use my vacation time in this instance, you can expect my paperwork sometime tomorrow for extended stress leave. I am still recoiling in the aftermath of the case that ousted Daryan Crescend, my former bandmate turned deranged smuggler/killer, from the shocking trial earlier this month.”

“I’ll never sign off on that malarky!” Winston made one final vein attempt to assert dominance in the omnishambles left in their wake. “You – you owe me a new pair of glasses! And those were top-dollar designer ones, too! Moreover, it’ll be a miracle if I don’t press charges against you, Gavin!”

Klavier’s eyes were as blue and innocent as a baby’s.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about! How can you possibly blame me for the destruction of your property when there’s nobody to attest that I was responsible for it? There are two other witnesses, one of whom is a police officer of the law, who I’m pretty sure never observed any such thing.”

“I didn’t see nothing,” Jake smirked. “Besides, who would ever believe the testimony of a low-life ex-con?”

“And I was so distraught over my current tragic circumstances that I’m afraid I wasn’t paying much attention,” Ema added sweetly. “You really should be more careful where you placed those ill-fitting glasses of yours, Prosecutor Payne. Perhaps consider getting more durable plastic lenses next time?”

“You can’t do this!” Winston howled impotently into the empty office. “Forget nailing you for assault – as far as I’m concerned, Klavier Gavin, you’re fired!”

Ema and Jake were already down the hall, but the blond man ducked his head back in the door and flashed his most winsome smile.

“Ja, funny thing about my newfound unemployment status,” he drawled cheekily. “You might think that would be some sort of threat or deterrent, but you seem to have forgotten one very important thing, Herr Payne.”

“And what’s that, you impudent, insufferable peacock?”

“I’m a recently retired, multi-platinum record-selling Rockstar.” Klavier winked. “I don’t need the money. I never did. Auf Wiedersehen!”

Jake Marshall and Dick Gumshoe
Prosecutor’s Office
July 21, 2026

“Phew! Thank heavens I got here in time, pal!” Clapping Jake heartily on the back in greeting, a somewhat winded Gumshoe accosted the trio just as they were making their way to the elevators en route to the rooftop. “Looks like Meekins has some purpose after all – he told me your action plan, and that you were headed here to talk to Payne. I had to run like the dickens to get what I needed for you all before you took off in the Fop Copter!”

Jake let out a loud guffaw upon his first time hearing the name Ema had once christened Klavier’s chopper, and the police Chief blushed slightly.

“Er, I mean, before you all took off in Prosecutor Gavin’s helicopter! Which we are so lucky he has!”

“Great save, Chief,” the cowboy deadpanned, then noticed the black duffel bag in his friend’s ham-size fist. “What do you got there?”

“Some of your important belongings and paperwork that you’re going to need for your trip, pal,” the trench coat wearer replied proudly. “Including the very recently renewed passport that you’ll require once you get to Europe.”

“What?!” Ema was speechless as she watched Jake eagerly dive into the bag, pulling out his trusty shaving knife, some documentation, and his trademarked Stetson hat, which he immediately plunked onto his head. “When?! Where? How?!”

“I’ve been keeping all of Jake’s worldly possessions in the police evidence storage warehouse ever since Lana’s trial,” Gumshoe explained. “I was able to get away with it during the trial by claiming it was pertinent materials related to a private crime scene. Then afterward, I just used the excuse of it being critical evidence for an ongoing investigation, and it was very important that none of it was disturbed. Prosecutor Edgeworth, being the great guy that he is, agreed to keep his mouth shut.”

He turned back to his one-time mentor.

“Mr. Edgeworth was the one who put in the request for the emergency renewal papers before he took off to Europe, Jake. He always intended for you to be able to come to see Lana, no matter where in the world she may have been.”

Jake cleared his throat, trying not to appear too emotional at this unexpected act of benevolence.

“He’s a good man, that Edgeworth,” he said gruffly. “It’s no wonder that you look up to him the way you do, Gumshoe. I’ll be happy to be able to convey my gratitude to him in person.”

The big man suddenly looked saddened and uncomfortable at these words, realizing the cowboy had no idea about the latest news about his benefactor, but wisely kept mum. Now was not the time.

“Now that it looks like we finally got our ducks in a row, can somebody please explain to me how Jake is even standing here with us right now?” The bewildered Ema asked the men. “I was the one who had to relay the awful message to my sister that his parole date had been pushed back because of his involvement in that prison fight last year – yet here he is?! Who wants to elaborate on how that little miracle transpired?”

Jake chuckled slightly and tipped his hat at Gumshoe.

“I’ll tell you that story on the helicopter ride over to the airport, Bambina. Let’s get a move on. Lana’s waiting for us.”

Miles Edgeworth and Jughead Chambers
High Prosecutor’s Office
July 12, 2026, 2:00 PM

“Ahem, regarding my second provision, which I realize I left relatively open-ended, ergo is the equivalent of saying you’ll owe me one…”

“That was exactly how I took it,” Chambers stated bluntly. “Seeing as how the exact words you used were, I wish to leave my second request to put under the admittedly semi-obscure umbrella of I’ll owe you one!”

“Having no desire to have you regard me as the same type of covetous counselor as Winston Payne, there’s a reason I didn’t make any specifications, Your Honor.” Miles’s tone was one of utmost sincerity. “It’s because at this point, I’m not only uncertain of exactly what I would require of you, but also because it’s not even for myself that I ask this future unknown favor.”

“I feel better now that you’ve expanded on this.” The judge sounded less leery and somewhat pacified now. “But could you at least tell me for whom this to be determined boon would be for?”

“Phoenix Wright.” The prosecutor replied matter-of-factly. “I know you’re one of the few in the legal system who believes his unfortunate disbarring was not only unwarranted but unjustified. I plan to do everything in my legal power to clear his name and get him reinstated. However, doing so may require the cooperation of a court official who ranks even higher than me. Therefore…”

“Say no more.” The hesitation was gone from Chambers’ voice. “Not only was Mr. Wright a very revered defense attorney, but he was also one of my favorites. Whatever it is I can do within my own legal power to help Wright the wrong that was done to him, consider it done.”

The judge let out a long sigh.

“Your third clause can certainly be taken care of… But will require other chains of command to cooperate, not just myself. Ergo, the matter will be resolved soon, though not as swiftly as you would think. Would it be too prying to inquire what made you ask for such a thing, Mr. Edgeworth?”

Miles had dreaded such a question, as he still hadn’t come up with a sufficient answer – at least, not without opening a can of worms that he had no desire to release.

“I hate to be nosy, it’s just that I can easily understand the nature of your other two requests,” Chambers continued awkwardly when his dialogue partner remained silent. “However, I am entirely unaware of any six degrees of separation whatsoever between you and –”

“I have my reasons, Your Honor,” Miles interrupted, his tone polite but firm. “Normally, I would never intentionally wish to be prevaricating while citing preconditions. Nonetheless, regarding this particular subject, I can only humbly request you trust my judgment, along with my belief that it’s a matter of nothing more than a desire for justice.”

TO BE CONTINUED…

Manowar – Gates Of Valhalla
Stria – Rise From The Ashes

German Translations:

Ach du lieber Himmel! – Good heavens!

Heiliger Strohsack! – Holy Smokes!

Ach Du meine Güte! – Good gracious!

Autsch! – Ouch!

Verflixt und zugenäht! – Damn it!