Ten years before the adventures of Ryunosuke Naruhodo, a man discovered his colleague was the infamous serial killer The Professor and confronted him in trial by combat. In one timeline, the man defeats the Professor.
But in another, the Professor survives and kills his former friend. And now a decade later, he continues to kill the corrupt in twisted justice.
The Great Ace Detective
by Checkerbox is a The Great Ace Attorney Alternate Universe Fic, where Ryunosuke Naruhodo works to become a detective under the tutelage of Herlock Sholmes, both working with Ryuunosuke's best friend Kazuma Asogi to uncover the vicious Professor.
The story completed on July 3rd, 2022.
Warning: All spoilers regarding the The Great Ace Attorney will be unmarked. Beware Late-Arrival Spoiler
The Great Ace Detective contains examples of:
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Barok van Zieks lacks the racism his canon self has, and is more cordial to Ryunosuke and his friends. Justified as his canon Freudian Excuse did not happen.
- Alternate Universe Fic: The point of the story is to see everything that changes as a result of Klint surviving the duel with Genshin. To wit:
- Kazuma Asogi makes it to London with Ryunosuke Naruhodo and Susato Mikotoba and takes his role as a defense attorney instead of Ryunosuke. Ryunosuke, meanwhile, studies to becomes a detective under Herlock Sholmes to help Kazuma in investigating the Professor murders.
- As Klint is still alive, he is able to raise his newborn daughter, who grows up as Henrietta van Zieks instead of Iris Wilson.
- As Genshin didn't take the fall for the Professor Killings, there was no jailbreak plan, which meant Enoch Drebber was never caught graverobbing, meaning he was able to get a career as a respected scientist and researcher.
- As Enoch Drebber was never kicked out of university for graverobbing in this timeline, he's financed by Odie Asman as an inventor, meaning Albert Harebrayne is simply visiting the Exhibition as a spectator and isn't framed for murder.
- Anger Born of Worry: Kazuma starts physically beating Ryunosuke after he rescues him from Balmung, furious that he almost got himself killed the same way as Klint's other victims because he didn't ask for Kazuma's help from the start.
- Baker Street Regular: Pick-pocket Gina Lestrade is often hired by Sholmes for gathering information.
- Big Damn Hero: Twice in chapter 17. First was Kazuma following Ryunosuke to the van Zieks estate and saving him from being mauled by Balmung. Second was after Klint defeats Kazuma and is about to kill him and Ryunosuke, only for Barok to stop him and fight on Kazuma's behalf.
- Bait-and-Switch Sentiment: When Maria Gorey remarks she wanted to see Stronghart's dead body for herself, Susato supposes it's because he's like family to her, being an apparent friend of Dr. Sithe. It's actually because she's never autopsied someone as tall as him and she finds it fascinating.
- Bittersweet Ending: Klint van Zieks was killed and the actions of himself and Stronghart exposed to the public. While there is an outcry against the justice system, Barok and likely Hattie are spared of any misplaced anger. However, both of them are haunted from learning that Klint was a serial killer. Luckily, both will have support from Sholmes and Kazuma. Kazuma managed to get vengeance for his father, but he ends up haunted by how revenge consumed him. He hands his sword Karuma to Ryunosuke and stays in London to become a prosecutor, with Susato, who hasn't formed the same bond with Ryunosuke as in canon, staying with him. Meanwhile, Ryunosuke chooses to head back to Japan alone, with the thought of becoming a professional detective crossing his mind.
- Broken Pedestal:
- In chapter 17, both Hattie and Barok go through this when they learn that Klint is the Professor, with Hattie tearfully admitting that her father is a bad man and Barok viciously calling him out during their duel. It's played with in that Barok acknowledges that he will always love the man his brother once was even if he hates the man he became, trying to emphasize his positives during his eulogy for him, while it's implied Hattie apparently tried to write a defense of her father under her penname once people started to publicly condemn him.
- Subverted in a moment that's Played for Laughs when Enoch Drebber is arrested and later convicted for assisting the Professor, to Albert's horror as he highly respected him. He later enthusiastically admits he still idolizes him for his scientific mind, before admitting that he'll need a different role model to idolize for moral behavior.
- Cliffhanger: Chapter 16 ends with Ryunosuke discovering their "tip" for finding the Professor was really a trap to kill Sholmes and Hattie hearing ticking from a bomb, followed by Sholmes rushing to grab and protect them before Ryunosuke is deafened by sound and fury.
- Chekhov's Gun: The bottle of deadly nightshade poison that Hattie gives Sholmes as a "gift" ends up saving his life when his heart stops, as its properties as a stimulant is enough to get it beating again.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: It's revealed that Klint viciously beat Stronghart before having Balmung kill him, trying to get Stronghart to reveal where he hid the evidence against him. It didn't work.
- Darker and Edgier: Although the fic has plenty of levity throughout, the tone is noticeably grimmer than the main game in tone and has more graphic depictions of violence. This especially applies in the final chapters; as Ryunosuke is not a lawyer, the confrontation with Klint takes place with physical conflict rather than stopping him in court, and several members of the main cast are seriously injured while Klint ends up dying onscreen. The fic is even tagged as calling it the "worse timeline," as multiple characters are worse off thanks to Klint surviving.
- Dead Man's Switch: Stronghart had a back-up plan in case he was killed. Namely having the autopsy report of Genshin Asogi sent to Herlock Sholmes, which revealed that Genshin didn't die by the Professor's hound as reported but rather in a duel to the death.
- Death by Adaptation:
- The nail of the story is that Genshin Asogi was killed in the duel to the death with Klint.
- Courtney Sithe was killed by the Professor during a demonstration by Enoch Drebber.
- Mael Stronghart is eventually killed by the Professor as well.
- Defiant to the End: Following the character's death, it's indicated that Mael Stronghart's only response to Klint trying to get the location of his evidence stash out of him was that he'd "see [Klint] in hell".
- Disguised in Drag: Ryunosuke's first encounter with Herlock Sholmes is when the latter is disguised as an old fortune teller.
- Driven to Suicide: In the chapter "Iris" it's revealed that Klint tried to kill himself when his wife died in childbirth, seeing it as the result of him making the "mistake" of not dying on Genshin's sword. This is why Mikotoba, who was there that day, is so reluctant to pursue him as a suspect in contrast to Sholmes, as he worries Klint could still be suicidal.
- Gaslighting: Klint does this to his brother Barok, in order to push him away from any clues about his true activities; one example is when he tells Barok he has a habit of "seeing things" when under stress when the latter tries to tell him about seeing Balmung near one of the crime scenes.
- Fowl-Mouthed Parrot: The parakeet Madam Rosie screams "I'll see you in hell" at the cast multiple times when they're investigating Stronghart's death, and Gregson remarks that he would have expected Stronghart to have taught her better manners. It's implied these were some of Stronghart's last words on the night he died, directed at his murderer Klint.
- It Gets Easier: In the original game, Klint hit the Despair Event Horizon after killing his innocent mentor. In this version where he was forced to continue long past this point, he has obviously become numb to killing even innocent people if he feels he has to. Ryunosuke even notes that he has spent ten years honing a killer instinct while Klint fights with Kazuma. Though it's downplayed in that he's deeply unhappy about the prospect of killing Kazuma and Ryunosuke, and says he "never liked" killing people with his own hands as opposed to using Balmung.
- Heroic BSoD: Ryunosuke's school uniform, which he wore with pride in this fic and the main game, gets shredded during an investigation in an incident where he narrowly avoids injury. He spends a good chunk of the scene acting dazed and confused as if he actually did get injured, and mourns the outfit being ruined once he's recovered.
- Hiding Behind the Language Barrier: Ryunosuke, Sholmes, and Yuujin all speak in Japanese while planning to sneak into Mael Stronghart's home, knowing none of the English bobbies guarding the place will understand them.
- In Spite of a Nail: For all that changes in the story, by the end of the fic Kazuma is still inspired to become a prosecutor, and gives Ryunosuke his sword Karuma out of shame for his need for vengeance eclipsing his common sense.
- Karma Houdini: Enoch Drebber, who, albeit under coercion, created death traps which nearly killed some of the main cast and brutally injured Sholmes. Although he is imprisoned partway into the story, Klint arranges for him to escape in exchange for making his last death trap and he is never recaptured, the only consequences to his actions being the loss of his reputation. Rumors even surface of him becoming a con man like in canon. On the whole, the characters aren't too broken up over it, since he's unlikely to try to kill anyone when not being blackmailed into it.
- Karmic Death: Mael Stronghart ends up being killed the same way as all the victims he blackmailed Klint into killing, having his throat torn out by Balmung.
- Kill the Ones You Love: Barok kills Klint in self defense at the end of their duel when the latter, mad with rage, charges at him. He is immediately horrified with himself for doing so, though the dying Klint is just relieved he didn't hurt Barok after all.
- Moment of Weakness: Klint reveals to Kazuma that the night that Genshin confronted him, Genshin offered him an honorable death in a duel and the vow to protect Klint's family afterward. A moment of doubt that Genshin would be able to protect the van Zieks family is what led Klint to kill Genshin instead.
- Mythology Gag:
- When Barok brings up that Madam Rosie the parakeet is traumatized after witnessing Stronghart's death, Kazuma dryly remarks if they will have her on the witness stand, to which Barok states that such a decision would be seen as laughable. Calling a bird to the stand had occurred in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.
- Sholmes' outdoor outfit for the fic, a black coat with a black top hat and goggles, is based on his concept art in the main game from when London was intended to have a darker, more punk aesthetic.
- Papa Wolf:
- Klint becomes absolutely furious and threatens Sholmes outright when Hattie, this fic's version of Iris, is almost injured while helping Sholmes investigate. When he learns that Hattie was with Sholmes on the night that he arranged to have Sholmes killed in an explosion, Ryunosuke describes him as looking "demonic" until he's assured she's safe.
- Barok, as her uncle, is as protective of Hattie as Klint. Once he becomes her legal guardian, he has a shouting match with their relatives the Baskervilles after they essentially try to kidnap her back to their estate following Klint's funeral.
- Point of Divergence: The point of divergence for this fic is that in their duel to the death, Genshin Asogi is the one to die against Klint van Zieks instead of the other way around as in canon. Meaning Klint had to continue to be the Professor under Stronghart.
- Spared By Adaptation:
- Klint van Zieks never died in his duel with Genshin.
- John H. Wilson is still alive and wasn't killed by Jezaille Brett.
- Odie Asman was never put in a position to be killed by Dr. Sithe, as he wasn't blackmailing her and had never ruined Drebber's life. The fic plays on this, however, as it's implied he's the Professor's next target anyway before it's revealed to be Dr. Sithe, herself, who is killed at the Exhibition.
- Shame If Something Happened: Stronghart compliments Klint about the latter's daughter Henrietta, having another paper being published at the age of ten. He brings up that Henrietta has many opportunities thanks to her father's standing, implying what might happen if Klint was exposed as the Professor.
- Shout-Out:
- Iris's new name is Henrietta "Hattie" van Zieks, with Henrietta being the female form of Henry Baskerville.
- At one point Klint mentions that Hattie is working on a book about the dynamics of an asteroid, a thesis that James Moriarty worked in the original Sherlock Holmes story.
- Hattie's pen name for her Professor stories in Randst Magazine is A. C. Doyle.
- In the same vein as Sholmes singing a parody of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" in the original game, in this fic he's heard singing a parody of Sinatra's "That's Life".
- Sholmes suggests that the Professor stories that Hattie publishes could use a detective, a "Porfiry to his Raskolnikov" from Crime and Punishment. Later, it's shown Barok even keeps a copy of Crime and Punishment in his office.
- Harebrayne finds a record of Schubert in Barok's gramophone, which is a reference to Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows where it was Moriarty's music of choice.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: Ryunosuke's school jacket is shredded partway through the fic. Rather than have it immediately repaired, he borrows a blue Inverness coat from Sholmes to wear, illustrating his transition into becoming a "detective".
- Stealth Insult: Discussed in terms of Barok's legal strategy. While Klint as a prosecutor is genuinely complimentary and respectful of his opponent, Barok is sarcastic and uses his compliments as a form of mockery.
- Troubled Abuser: Klint gaslights and manipulates Barok multiple times through the fic, and is especially aggressive after his murdering Stronghart, when Barok points out he wasn't where he said he'd be. This has had a significant impact on Barok's confidence and career. At the same time, from Klint's perspective, his only other option is to have the crimes he's being blackmailed into doing exposed to the public, which he believes would ruin his family's lives.
- Wham Episode: The end of Chapter 12. Barok goes to deliver a report to Chief Justice Stronghart with Albert Harebrayne accompany him, only to find his office locked. When Barok breaks it open, they along with Kazuma and Susato find Mael Stronghart's corpse on the ground, his throat torn out by the Professor's hound. Before this point, Stronghart had been treated as the Big Bad with his own plans in mind for Kazuma, and Klint being his reluctant Dragon. After this point, the fic becomes about Klint as the Big Bad, trying desperately to finally wrap up his crimes and escape justice, even if he has to hurt more people to do it.
- You Wouldn't Believe Me If I Told You: When Ryunosuke realizes that Sholmes knew who the Professor was after his fifth murder years ago, he ask why hasn't he told anyone even if he didn't have proof. Sholmes bitterly replies that the Professor is a charming, well-respected, and well-connected man capable of covering his tracks, while Sholmes is a near anonymous detective who only came to the conclusion through just intellectual exercise. Even if he gave his reasoning, people won't be able to accept it because they aren't built to follow pure reason.
