Chapter Text
December 31st – 2027
10:46 PM.
Wright Anything Agency.
“Simon!” yells one Athena Cykes, waving her hand aggressively. She had insisted that Simon should spend new years eve with her and the rest of the agency. Simon didn’t know why he accepted Athena’s offer, but it seemed like he had nothing else to do than stare at the ceiling in his bed.
Though, comparing that and where he is now, he’d rather be at home, in his apartment.
He had now been at the party for about four hours, and honestly? It was getting real tiring. The music was too loud, and too many people were there. Ahem, let’s see…
Athena Cykes,
Apollo Justice,
Phoenix Wright,
Trucy Wright,
Klavier Gavin,
Ema Skye,
Miles Edgeworth…
…And a bunch of other people he didn’t care to name.
Simon strolled over to Athena and stopped in front of her. On his shoulder joined his hawk, Taka
“What is it that you need, Athena?” Simon asked, taking a sip of the drink he had been holding. “I will be leaving in about 20 minutes, so please make it quick.”
Athena seemed surprised at Simon’s sudden hurry. “Geez, ya don’t have any reason to be leaving so fast, do you?” she mumbled. Athena then handed Simon an envelope. Simon raised his eyebrow.
“An envelope?” He asked, staring at the casual, white envelope. Athena smiled and nodded.
“Yup! It’s a new year's card!” She answered, which left Simon even more confused. Why? He thought. And as if Athena could read his mind, she answered his question.
“When I was in Europe, I noticed that people exchanged cards on new years.” she explained, “Dunno if they do this here but take it!” she forced the envelope into Simon’s possession. Simon accepted the card. the front felt a bit bobbly, but that didn’t matter, must be some sort of decoration. He stared at the white envelop and nodded.
“Thank you, Athena.”
Athena waved Simon goodbye as he left through the agency doors. She then returned to the party, talking with a familiar girl with braids in her hair. The two of them seemed comfortable around each other, they were giggling and laughing together.
“…”
“hmph.”
December 31st – 2027
11:30 pm
Simon Blackquill’s apartment.
Simon stared at the ceiling above him, attempting with all his might to doze off. But he couldn’t, not after all the events that took place the past few days. He wasn’t supposed to be alive at this moment; he should’ve had crossed the river of Styx a few days ago. But he didn’t. He didn’t, he wasn’t actually supposed to, but for a long time, the people believed that his death would’ve been justice.
Justice…
Oh, how Simon despises that word. That fool had tricked him. He tricked him into thinking he had someone who cared about him in the darkest age of his life. He thought they were… He—ugh, never mind. He was a murderer, Simon, and justi—his verdict was reasonable and fair. The trial’s outcome was the truth. Simon sighed, rolling over to his side. In just a few minutes, this year would be over, and everything shall be in the past… hopefully.
The sound of Taka’s wings flapping filled Simon’s ears. He rolled to the other side and was met with the hawk standing on the bedside drawer. Simon stared back at Taka in confusion.
“Taka, must you gaze upon me while I’m attempting to sleep?” He asks groggily, not expecting a response. He then noticed a piece of paper inside of Taka’s beak. Taka moved his head slightly forward, signalling Simon to take the piece of paper. Eventually, Simon simply sighed and tried to release the paper from Taka’s beak. Only, Taka wouldn’t let go. Simon tugged at the paper.
Taka didn’t let go.
Simon pulled the paper.
Taka still wouldn’t let go.
“Taka,” Simon said, his voice firm and demanding. “Give me the paper.” He placed his hand under Taka’s beak, staring at him until the bird dropped the paper. Which he eventually did. Simon sighed.
“Thank you.”
Simon turned on the lamp on his bedside drawer and took a good look at the paper, it was the card that Athena had given to him, it was decorated with glitter glue that seemed to fade a bit, and colourful pom-poms were squished onto the card. Red, purple, yellow, dark blue, light blue. There was some kind of samurai drawn on the front of the thing. In any way, it didn’t really matter. Simon opened the card and finally read its contents.
‘To Simon,
I know these past days must’ve been rough for you, so me and the rest of the agency wanted to make a card for you! (Klavier insisted on joining lol)
Let’s make this new year the best year ever! And try helping more people out lol
Gelukkig nieuw jaar!
Athena, Klavier, and the rest of the agency.
P.S: don’t forget to make your new years wish! You never know if it may come true ;)’
Simon tsk-ed when reading the crossed out message written in different handwriting, he helps people out!
‘gelukkig nieuw jaar?’ Simon thought confused, ‘must be a new language she’s learning.’
He sighed, closed the card and placed it on the bedside drawer. New years wish? Does something like that even exist? And even if he did, he would never believe in such tomfoolery.
Though, it would’ve been nice if he had one wish…
Simon crawled back under his blankets, but when he finally started to doze off, he felt a sharp something tapping his head. Taka was pecking Simon’s head repeatedly, when Simon sat straight up to gently shoo Taka away, he picked the card and placed it onto Simon’s lap.
“Oh, so now you decide to give it to me immediately?” he sneered.
He inspected the card once more, trying to decipher the message Taka was trying to deliver by returning the card again. Then, realization dawned upon him, he groaned. Surely Taka didn’t mean—
“Ugh,” he sighed, “Taka, I am not making a new year’s wis— OUCH OUCH OUCH!” Simon tried to shoo the hawk away and stop him from pecking his head non-stop. Taka didn’t quit, though, so Simon had no choice but to give in.
“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!” Simon yelled, “I shall think of a new year’s wish, if you would simply quit trying to dig a hole in my head!”
Taka seemed pleased by that reaction as he flew away towards the balcony. He was probably expecting Simon to follow him. Why does he even have to make a wish? What would he wish? Simon stood up from his bed and stumbled towards the balcony.
Simon looked up at the sky above him. The stars shone bright and a Waxing Crescent moon was in the middle of it all. It was a thin sliver, and almost impossible to spot, but it was still there. It actually looked like one of those typical moons you see in cartoons, where they tell you the moon is made of cheese.
Though, astronomy never failed to amaze Simon.
…
Goddamnit, can’t he go one hour without moping about that case a few days ago? He should be happy! He would’ve been dead if that didn’t happen. Will he ever be able to move on? Surely he will, right? He needs to quit being all sad about this detective he never even knew! That fool was a fake, that phantom used him and he’ll never get to meet the real Bobby Fulbright.
...
“Hmmm…” Simon hummed as he placed his elbow on the balcony railing and his chin inside the palm of his hand. “I guess I could wish for that.”. Simon really can’t think of anything else, so when Taka joined him on his shoulder, he finally decided a wish.
“I wish… I could spend time with the real Bobby Fulbright…” He mumbled, he was ashamed of himself. He told himself that he found Fulbright annoying and weird. And even if that fool was the Phantom at the moment, their personalities must’ve been quite similar, right?
Taka let out a loud squawk as if he was laughing at his owner. Simon’s scowl immediately reappeared as he tsk-ed.
He turned back around and returned to his bed, trying to ignore the screeching noise Taka kept making. He noticed that the time was exactly 00:00 when he checked his alarm. But he didn’t pay it any mind, he was tired, and details didn’t matter.
Date: ???
Time: ???
Location: ???
The sun shone brightly like it was a regular summer day and the flowers bloomed in the grass field. Simon tried to squeeze his eyes close, but the brightness of the light prevented him from even trying to go back to sleep. He slowly opened his eyes, and what he saw was not his own apartment, but the outside world with small critters walking around and all that kind of stuff. But Simon didn’t see that beauty, the only thing he saw was dirt, trash, and bacteria. When he realised he wasn’t in his house anymore, he shot straight up.
“GAH!” Simon gasped. He looked around the place, wondering how he ended up here. He was in the middle of a park, wearing his sleeping clothes. It was just sweatpants, a T-shirt, and no ponytail—for some odd reason.
Next to him laid a backpack, a note with ‘to you’ written on it. ‘ ‘To me?’’ Simon thought, holding the note ‘what on earth is that supposed to mean?’
He checked the contents of the bag. It was two outfits—different from his daily attire—a wallet, a phone that didn’t seem like his, some snacks, gloves, and... another note? Simon picked up the note and unfolded it.
’11:11’
11:11? That was it? Just two repeating number? This made Simon even more confused as to why he was outside, and why it was so warm in the morning. What time even was it? There was no clock in the area, or anything else to help identify the time. So Simon fished the phone out of the bag to check the date, but when he did, face ID unlocked the phone almost immediately.
‘strange…’ Simon thought, but decided to go through the phone anyway. The phone consisted of the necessary apps, like camera and photos. When he checked the date in the agenda app, he nearly dropped the phone out of shock.
August 9th , 2025, 8:56 am
That must be some sort of error, right? There was no way that Simon could’ve travelled back in time! Simon frantically looked around, trying to find any hint of today’s date. Then, he spotted a film poster. On the front was a picture of a samurai. It seemed similar to the one on the card Athena had given him.
The Steel Samurai: Warrior of Neo Old Tokyo, The Legend of the Burning Bridge.
Coming in theatres: Oktober 27th, 2025!
“ngrk...!” Simon grunted, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why the date said 2025, AGAIN! The poster must be outdated… by a year… yes! That must be it! But just as that problem was resolved, a child and her mother strolled past.
The little girl spotted the poster and pointed eagerly at it.
“mommy, mommy!” the girl said, jumping up and down. “can we go to the new steel samurai movie now?” the girl was practically jumping from excitement, but the mother simply sighed, and tugged at the girl’s arm.
“we can’t sweetie,” the mother started. ‘Because it isn’t in theatres anymore! Right?’ Simon figured. ‘Because the poster is outdated by a year!’
“because it isn’t in theatres yet.” She finished.
It was like Simon’s whole world shattered at that moment. He froze and dropped to his knees, burying his face in his hands. He wanted to scream. Had he really travelled to the past? Or it’s a dream! It’s a dream and tomorrow, he would wake up in his own bed!
Simon glanced at the gloves in the bag beside him.
If he really is in 2025 that would mean…
‘Better to be safe than sorry, I suppose’ He thought to himself as he put on the gloves.
If he actually were in the year 2025, that would mean that his current self—the one that belongs in 2025—is in jail…on death row. And if—it’s very unlikely that it would happen—he were to accidentally stumble upon a crime scene while trying to find a certain someone who may be alive, he couldn’t afford to leave any of his own fingerprints. But it’s not like he would actually run into a crime scene just like that!
He adjusted his gloves and threw the bag over his shoulder. What was he supposed to do now? He had to look for him. He needed information, about where he was—no when he was. He didn’t know a thing about 2025, because he was in the clink at the time. But he also needed more information about the phantom, about all his tricks and performances.
sure, he knew a lot more than he before his acquittal, but he didn’t know enough.
Simon needed to prevent Fulbright’s death, and at the same time, his own too.
“you’re thinking too much” a calm voice said, “calm down, have fun, this ain’t no mission!”
Simon turned around to try and find the source of the voice, but to his surprise, no one was there. Only a smalls squirrel which scurried away with a hazelnut stuffed in it’s cheek.
For a second, Simon thought the little animal must’ve been talking, but he quickly brushed that thought off.
He needed information…
August 9 - 2025,
9:10 am
The Paige Turner Library.
…and where better to go than a library?
Simon stepped into the building and his eyes were immediately filled with the sight of millions of books that were organized by title, size, and colour. At the receptionists desk sat a young lady—seemingly in her early twenties. On the counter laid a name plate with a name written in cursive on it.
‘Gimmy A. Braike
Receptionist.’
Simon approached the desk and cleared his throat to get Braike-dono’s attention. The tired woman looked up from her computer and at Simon.
“where can I find books circulating about supernatural subjects?” Simon tried asking, but he was cut off mid-sentence by Braike-dono pointing east.
“the computer,” she said. Simon’s eyes followed the direction the lady was pointing to and he was met with a tall table with a computer attached to it. “there you can find all the books, about any subject!” her voice was laced with fake excitement.
Simon simply nodded politely.
“Thank you, Braike-dono.” He said, what left the lady with a confused look on her face. Simon walked over to the device.
‘welcome to the Paige Turner Library!’ the top text on the computer said. It was a simple website with several pages consistent of information about the library. But Simon didn’t pay that any mind. He typed into the search bar the word ‘the phantom’ in the hopes of finding something about the paranormal creature.
‘Loading…’
‘Sorry, we did not find any book titles about ‘the phantom’, did you mean:’
And then the website recommended a bunch of kids books.
“Lacie and the mysterious phantom” Simon muttered one of the names, it was a book about a cursed girl who goes on an adventure, trying to cure her curse. Seemed for children around the age of 13.
Simon groaned in frustration and pushed his hair back, there has to be something, right? But where?
“seriously,” the same calm voice from earlier said, “your wish was to spend time with him, right? Why waste your time?”
Simon shot up, again trying to spot the owner of this mysterious voice.
“why don’t you start by finding him?”
August 9th – 2025
6:33 pm
People park
Simon sat down at the most nearby bench and buried his face in his hands. His foolish self has spent how many hours looking for that fool Bobby Fulbright, and he couldn’t even find a single clue as to where he was—or if he was even alive.
‘if I were to consider myself a hero of justice’ Simon thought, ‘where would I be?’
…
Thump!
Something small and light fell out of the large tree beside the bench Simon was sitting on. It caught Simon’s attention and he looked to his side to see what it was.
It was a small baby dove, just born and unable to fly. Simon looked up at the tree and he noticed a small bird’s nest with two other baby doves. They were looking down on the fallen dove and chirping continuously as if they were laughing at it. The fallen dove looked helpless, with no way back to it’s nest. All of a sudden, the words of Simon’s new year’s card echoed through his mind.
‘try helping more people out!’
As Simon remembered those words, he stood up and walked over to the little dove. He crouched down and held out his hand for the little dove to climb on. The little dove looked at Simon as if confused and hesitant. But it soon leaped onto Simon’s hand.
Simon lifted his hand to the top of his head. His hair was already similar to an actual bird’s nest, so why not let an actual bird in? When the little dove sat comfortably on Simon’s head, Simon stood back straight up and faced the tree.
“Alright then, Dove-dono.” he muttered. Dove-dono chirped and Simon gently scratched the top of Dove-dono’s head to calm it. “you needn’t worry, you shall be back in your own home soon enough.”
Simon carefully grabbed onto a sturdy branch above him. He placed his foot onto a stump and started carefully climbing to the top, trying his hardest not to drop Dove-dono.
He finally reached the part of the tree where he could sit without the branch breaking and he could sense that he was close to Dove-dono’s nest. Simon looked up, and yes, he was indeed close to the nest. He simply needed to stand on his tippy-toes and place Dove-dono back in it’s nest.
Simon carefully stood up, trying not to tumble over and fall to the ground. He gently picked up Dove-dono from his head and lifted it up to it’s nest. When Dove-dono finally was back in their nest—with they supposed brothers and sisters, they all flapped their wings and chirped.
…maybe they weren’t laughing at Dove-dono in the first place, just worried about their sibling.
Simon slightly smiled at the reunited birds playing together. He then lowered himself back to the ground
Carefully…
Slowly…
With patience…
CRACK!
One of the branches broke, Simon lost his balance and fell to the ground.
Everything after that was either blurry or completely black.
August 9th – 2025,
Time: ???
Location: ???
Simon groggily opened his eyes, and the sun stared right back at him. The only thing he remembered was falling after bringing Dove-dono safely to it’s home.
Was he dead?
Simon sat back straight up and looked around. Nope, still People Park, 2025.
“Ah! You’re awake!” a cheerful voice said. A voice Simon knows all to well, “You’re very lucky, sir! If no one had been here, your skull might’ve been completely cracked open!”
Simon slowly turned his head with wide eyes to identify who was talking.
His suspicions were right, it was him.
Bobby Fulbright.
Everything went black once again.