11 Sir Red Knight VS. Sir Blue Knight

The sound of Edgeworth’s heavy footsteps echoed down the long stairwell as he made his way to the battlefield.

No lone wolf tactics? Why not simply ask me to make absolutely certain that we lose, sergeant Jarhead?! By appointing Wright as the leader of this game, he has very much assured that! The debonair man fumed to himself. If that soldier wannabe expects me to play nice with Sir Blue Knight, he has quite another thing coming!

He gripped his plastic blaster tightly in his hands as he finally entered the neon maze, unsurprisingly, way before the rest of his team.

I   will have this game won before Wright can fire even a single shot!

Me as the leader, huh? Normally, I wouldn’t want that kind of responsibility. Phoenix ran a hand through his spiky hair. But I’ll be damned if I was gonna let Sir Red Knight lead us! Not with the fair maiden’s hand on the line!

He looked beside him to see Maya marching in place, holding her blaster much like a soldier would hold their weapon. Meanwhile, Apollo and Clay seemed to be busying themselves pretending they were already in a firefight. Finally, the lift came to a stop and the doors opened, revealing the battlefield before them. Phoenix and his soldiers stepped off the lift, the door closing behind them, and took the only available path before them. The group remained silent until they finally reached a fork in the path. One path leads right, the other to the left.

“Which way now, Mr. Wright?” Apollo asked, looking around them nervously, expecting an enemy to appear at any moment.

This was it. Phoenix’s first real decision as a leader. Somewhere in this labyrinth, four children and a walking feather duster were waiting to ambush them. If he chose wrong, he could easily lead them to a dead-end, making them easy prey for their opponents.

Suggesting a coin toss would probably get me a smack to the back of the head from Maya. But I have no way of really knowing. A guess is better than nothing, I suppose.

“I say… We head left.” The blue-suited man finally replied. The group nodded and followed his lead as he made his way down the path.

As they wandered the maze, it didn’t even occur to Phoenix that his rival had not rejoined the group. However, to be honest, he truly didn’t care. Their competition amongst themselves would probably serve only as a distraction.

Eventually, after about five minutes, the group came to a large space in what appeared to be the center of the maze. Small barricades dotted the area, supposedly to be used for cover by the players, and in the center of it all was what could only be described as a small building. One half of the area was colored blue, while the other was red. This was the real battlefield, where the teams were expected to meet up and finally attack.

After a moment of examining their surroundings, the group jumped as the fog began to fill the area, obscuring their vision. The fight was about to begin.

A pew sound was heard and a red beam of light shot past Phoenix, just narrowly missing him. One-shot suddenly became many as the red team had now arrived and was ready to fight.

“Everyone, find cover!” Phoenix called out. The team did as instructed and split up, seeking shelter behind the barricades across the area.

The red team’s assault halted as their opponents took cover. The sounds of little feet could be heard all around the area. Phoenix had a feeling their tactic would be to overwhelm them with sheer firepower, so he knew they would need to use the cover and fog to their advantage, making every shot count. The defense attorney studied his surroundings. To his left, sharing a barricade, were Apollo and Clay. However, he didn’t see his assistant.

“Nick! I need help!” Her voice rang from somewhere near the building in the center of the arena.

“Maya!?” Phoenix looked and saw that the girl was currently being tailed by the fox-eared kid and the girl in the top hat. “Maya, I’m coming! Apollo, Clay, cover me!”

“Roger, sir!” Apollo cried back out as he leaned out of cover, firing a barrage of rapid shots at the enemy team.

Phoenix couldn’t help but appreciate the boy’s trigger finger as he rushed out of cover to see horn-fringed boy’s beams firing everywhere around the red team as a scare tactic. Clay joined Apollo in the shooting, and together, the two youths pushed the red team back into cover.

Even though the girl with the top hat, he remembered her name being Trucy, ran back with her team, the pesky brat with the fox ears would not leave Maya alone! In a desperate act of heroics, the blue attorney raised his blaster, firing at the fox-eared kid and getting a shot straight into the chest. The boy’s chest armor lights then shut off, and he spewed a litany of barely comprehensible insults, in a language which the lawyer assumed was supposed to be English!

Phoenix quickly took cover next to Maya.

“That was too close, Nick!” Maya told him. “The kid got one hit on me!”

The Turnabout Terror suddenly remembered he had no idea what the rules even were, so what his assistant had just said made zero sense to him whatsoever!

The spirit medium’s expression dropped as she saw the look of confusion on the man’s face.

“Of course you didn’t listen in briefing…” She muttered to herself. “Okay, here’s the rules…”

Phoenix thanked everything high and holy that Maya was feeling kind enough to reiterate the rules. Although the blaster noises and sounds of shuffling feet made it hard to hear, he tried his best to do so.

“Everyone has three lives. Once you lose all of them, you’re out. You can see on the screen of your gun how many lives you have left. You still have three because you haven’t been shot yet, but because Foxy over there got the jump on me, I’m down to two lives.”

“What, so I can just fire a barrage on one person and get them out?” Phoenix asked. Maya sighed with frustration at the fact this man could solve murder cases, yet couldn’t figure out a simple game of laser tag!

“Let me show you an example,” she sighed, before standing up and firing at someone from the red team.

Luckily for her, Foxy was leaning just out of cover, and Maya fired an accurate shot, hitting the kid in his chest, then leaned down to Phoenix, hiding behind cover.

“You hit Foxy before, and that lowered him down to two lives. He then had ten seconds of invincibility, meaning no one can hit him. This gives him time to run away and get cover before someone shoots him again. Because I hit him again, he’s now down to one life, and if he gets hit one more time, he is completely out of the game!”

Phoenix nodded, indicating he now understood fully. Maya smirked at him, before leaning out of cover and firing on the red team, hitting no one but at least suppressing them so they stayed in cover.

“We have to push past this team to get to the red base. There, we’ll find Dee Ceiving, the red team leader. We gotta take her out to win the game, whilst protecting our leader, Aaron Strikes, who’s hiding in a blue base. Now that you finally know all this, you ready to kick some butt?”

Phoenix nodded and grinned at the raven-haired beauty.

“Well, move fast!” She barked. “They’re pushing up!”

The man had no idea what his friend meant, but he got caught on when he saw the red team all walk out of cover, firing at the blue team. Maya crouched, keeping low while sprinting so that the red team couldn’t get an accurate shot on her.

Phoenix attempted to do the same, but his larger size made him more exposed, meaning Foxy had an accurate shot on him. Apollo spotted the kid with fox ears raising his blaster to shoot at the attorney.

“Look out!” Apollo cried out in a surprisingly loud voice, which belied his small size.

Phoenix turned around to see Foxy aiming the blaster at him. Suddenly, Apollo crept out of cover and fired a shot, hitting the kid with fox ears and taking his last life, effectively putting him out of the game.

“Tango down!” Apollo smiled smugly.

“You gonna regret the day ya messed with Wocky Kitaki, kid!” Foxy yelled, stamping his foot.

Wocky Kitaki?! The hell kind of name is that?! Phoenix wondered as the little snot stormed off in a huff. He turned and gave an appreciative nod to Apollo.

“Nick!” Maya whispered to Phoenix. The lawyer turned to his left to see his assistant crouched down next to him. “They’re pushing us up the middle, but there’s cover around the sides! If we sneak around them and get behind them, we can flank ’em and get some easy hits! Hopefully, Apollo and Clay follow…” She nodded to the young boys, who understood what they had to do, quickly sneaking to their respective sides. “Follow me, Nick.”

The two slunk around the sides, all the while wondering where the hell Edgeworth had run off to! They crept slowly, trying not to make any loud footsteps. Eventually, the two snuck behind the red team, and they both spotted Apollo and Clay ready at the cover. With red teams’ backs facing them, they leaned out of cover and fired.

Maya got a hit on Trucy, who squeaked out in surprise and made a mad dash for cover along with the red team, all except for Lotta.

The afro-haired woman stayed out, readying for further blue team fire. “When I see one a’ ya’s, ya’ll better say yer last prayers!”

Apollo and Clay tiptoed around to the sidewalls, and the spiky-banged boy looked over at his friend. As if ripped straight from military tactics itself, he whispered, “On my mark… Three… Two… MARK!”

Clay popped out of cover, firing a shot at Lotta and hitting her once. The wannabe journalist stupidly stayed out of cover, and as Apollo counted to ten, he came out of hiding, firing a second shot and hitting the countrywoman. Lotta was surprised at the boys’ teamwork, and Maya knew she had to finish her off, and at the count of ten, she leaned out and called out to her opponent.

“Hey, Lotta!” Maya called out. The fuzzy-haired woman spotted the spirit medium as she aimed at her, and hollered one last snarky remark… “This one is from Dylan!”

Maya fired a shot, hitting Lotta square in the chest, successfully putting her out of the game. The defeated woman hurled a string of Southern slurs and curses in her foe’s direction as she stomped off the field. The legal assistant smirked, quite pleased with herself, giving an appreciative “Hm!”

“Now isn’t that just adorable?” A flirty female voice came from behind the blue team. They turned around to see Dee Ceiving standing in her base. She raised her blaster, and suddenly, a sniper scope ejected from the top. “Unfortunately… Playtime’s over.”

Phoenix noticed Dee was aiming straight at Maya, and he tried to fire a shot at the red team leader. He missed, and Dee took the shot. In an act of desperation, Phoenix stood in front of Maya, taking the phasor straight to his chest, and taking one of his lives.

“N-Nick!” Maya cried out in surprise.

“Get back, Maya!” Phoenix ordered, and Maya ran behind cover so that Dee couldn’t get any more shots on her. Unfortunately, Dee took a shot at the young boys, and her aim hit true, hitting Clay straight in the back.

“I’m hit!” Clay cried dramatically as if an actual bullet had just struck him. Phoenix then realized one critical flaw with his plan: In the time he had been on the other side of the area, the red team had all the time to rush to Aaron.

“Everyone, move to blue base, now!” The lawyer yelled, and the entire blue team ran forward. Phoenix and Maya took the left side, whilst Apollo and Clay ran to the right. The two boys charged forward, but they were suddenly stopped by two girls, Trucy, and another girl with long orange hair tied into a side ponytail, sporting a bizarre set of oversized headphones on her head. The little magician and the redhead fired at Apollo and Clay, hitting both boys once, putting Apollo down to two lives and Clay down to one.

“Trucy, I saw the other two going for their base! You go stop them!” The cute redhead instructed her teammate, who nodded, running back to fight Phoenix and Maya. Clay went around, taking an alternative path to the base, leaving just Apollo with the headphone-wearing girl. There was a moment of tension as the two hid behind cover, waiting for the other to pop out and take a shot.

The orange-haired girl went first, immediately standing up. However, she tripped over her shoelaces, causing her to fall straight onto her belly and also launching the headphones off of her head. Apollo had an easy shot on the girl, and as he leaned out of cover to take one, he immediately halted in his actions.

The girl had both hands clamped over her ears, and tears were running down her face. Apollo realized the noisy clamor was seriously hurting her, and he lowered his blaster.

He grabbed the headphones beside him, sprinting over to the girl and holding them in front of her. The girl’s teeth were gritted, eyes squeezed tightly shut even as the tears continued streaking down her cheeks due to the immense pain in her ears. She opened her eyes to see Apollo leaning down, holding out her headphones, and she immediately reached up to grab them, placing them over her ears as fast as possible. She started heaving as she put them on, as the pain finally went go away. The girl peered up at Apollo, and he took the time to look at her blaster to see her name.

Athena.

“Are you alright?” Apollo asked. He held out a hand, and the girl took it, raising herself. She stared at the young boy and smiled bashfully at him.

“I-I’m okay…” Athena squeaked out in a soft, extremely cute voice. She looked down at the floor out of embarrassment, then her wide blue eyes glanced back up at Apollo and she blushed. “Do… Do you mind if I stay with you… In case m-my headphones fall off again?”

Apollo didn’t know if you could make a team switch mid-game, but he didn’t really care. He shrugged and smiled at the young girl.

“Of course! Welcome to the blue team. You can stick with me until we find Clay.” Apollo told her. The girl nodded, and the boy went back to his cover and grabbed his blaster, prompting Athena to follow him, her blaster at the ready as well.

Clay quickly made it to blue base in time to see a young boy running to Aaron, preparing to fire at him. Aaron didn’t have invincibility when he was shot, meaning the young boy could get an easy three shots on him and win the game. He couldn’t let that happen! He raised his blaster, aiming at the little runt, holding his breath to steady his gun, then took the shot, hitting the dark-haired kid in the back. Clay’s gun told him he had just hit a boy named Cody.

Cody turned around to fire back at Clay, narrowly missing the bullet. Ten seconds ran up, and Clay and Cody fired at the same time, hitting each other. Cody took out Clay’s last life, and Clay cursed himself. Cody was hit as well, but he still had one life left, meaning he could still take out Aaron.

As Cody blew a raspberry at Clay, a blaster shot suddenly came from his side, hitting Cody in the side, taking out his last life. Clay saw Phoenix move out of cover as he fired at Cody, and quickly realized Phoenix had taken the last shot to take out Cody, practically saving the game.

“I’ll be telling my mom about this!” Cody huffed, stamping out of the arena. Phoenix could feel the sweat drip off his forehead at having to deal with that mammoth beast again. The blue attorney then spotted the little girl with the top hat running from the other side of the arena, and he fired at her, hitting Trucy in the chest and putting her down to her last life. Trucy backed up into cover, but unfortunately, she backed up straight into Apollo, who shot her and took her last life.

“So you had to gang up on a little girl, huh?” Trucy huffed, giving a slightly judgmental look to Apollo and Phoenix, who both felt a slight tinge of guilt at the little girl’s penetrating stare.

Just then, the lawyer spotted the redheaded girl behind Apollo, and was about to shoot her, but quickly realized the girl wasn’t firing at Apollo, but merrily tagging along behind him.

Huh. Did she switch teams? Guess that Apollo kid has got more charm than I thought…

Quickly noticing no one on the red team was remaining, he had one last objective: Take out Dee. A hard task, but it could be done with everyone teaming together.

“Everyone, to red base! Go, go, go!” Apollo shouted, and the entirety of the blue team ran down the long arena to a red base. They saw it in their sights, and Maya took a luck shot at Dee from afar, missing and alerting Dee to her presence. Dee activated the scope on her blaster, taking aim at Maya. The raven-haired beauty had to essentially roll out of the way to avoid the fire.

“No one can hide from my sight.” Dee purred seductively, aiming at the cover and waiting for the blue team to poke their cute little heads out so she could pop them off. Phoenix knew this was going to be tough, but the woman had a fast and sharp aim, and as soon as one of them revealed themselves, they’d be hit immediately.

We can’t all be taken out by this one chick!

Then, Dee was hit from her side. She was then hit by a second bullet, and before she had time to react, a third, putting her out of the game. Phoenix looked over to Apollo, but he hadn’t taken the shot. Maya was right next to him, so the one who had just taken out Dee was…

“Edgeworth?!”

The magenta-clad man emerged from a cover that was directly next to Dee, chuckling to himself. He held his blaster triumphantly, smiling smugly at Phoenix.

“While all of you were busy prancing around with the other team, I took the time to focus on the task and sneak up on Dee. As you can see, it proved efficient… It was rather amusing watching you all try, though.”

Phoenix glared at his rival, triumphant, smarmy mug and all, and gritted his teeth, not even caring that this underhanded maneuvering had ensured Aaron’s safety.

Why you pompous, egotistical, conceited, asshole! You seriously disappeared all so you could show off and call yourself the big hero of the match!?

And it appeared that Phoenix wasn’t the only person angry about the urbane man’s sudden reappearance. As Edgeworth made his way to the group, he couldn’t help but notice the identical expressions upon the face of his teammates, each watching him with disapproving contempt.

“Why do you all seem so upset? We won the game, after all. Thanks to my masterful stealth, of course!” The prosecutor boasted. He immediately regretted his choice of words as Maya stepped forward and poked him in the chest. Hard.

“Yeah, we won, but you abandoned us, Miles! This was supposed to be fun, but you left us all to fend for ourselves and only cared about winning!”The now irate medium yelled. “Nick, Apollo, Clay, and I were the ones that ended up having to save Aaron’s ass. Where were you on that one!?”

“I-I-” The flummoxed Edgeworth attempted to speak but was quickly intersected by Clay, who was glowering at him.

“Yeah, man! I actually stood up for you, but you decided to go rogue! You may have taken out the leader, but I’d say the play of the game goes to Blue boy here!” The young man gestured at Phoenix.

“W-well –” Again, Sir Red Knight found himself interrupted, this time by Apollo.

“We all had to pull your weight to keep the other team from taking out our leader, and you just used us as cover!” The spiky-horned boy accusingly pointed his forefinger, courtroom-style, at the now crimson-faced Edgeworth.

The defense attorney watched all this with a barely concealed grin on his face.

Serves you right, glory hog! Maybe I oughta be the good guy here and try to stick up for the poor guy… but where’s the fun in that?

“C’mon guys.” Sir Blue Knight turned his back to the prosecutor. “Let’s leave the victor to his spoils.”

With that, Phoenix, along with Maya, Apollo, Athena, and Clay all headed to leave the arena, each returning the proud salute given to them by Aaron, who was standing exit door as they left.

The slate-haired man stared after them, utterly dumbfounded. The last thing he’d expected was such harsh words after their victory. He quickly followed after the group, returning their vests and emerging back outside the arena. As they exited, a beautiful woman in her early thirties, with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail, approached them, her eyes on Athena.

“Athena, did you have fun?” The woman asked the redhead.

“Uh-huh!” The girl nodded happily and grinned ear to ear. “It was so much fun, mommy! Even if my team did lose.”

“That’s too bad, sweetie.” Athena’s mother giggled softly. “Now, what was it you wanted to do next?”

“Um, actually, mommy, I was wondering…” The young girl looked shyly down at the ground and held her arms behind her back. “C-could I go play with my new friend for a while?”

Apollo was visibly taken aback at the request, not expecting the little girl to have taken such a shine to him in such a short time. Meanwhile, Phoenix couldn’t help but chuckle.

Looks like this kid has himself a little admirer.

“Oh? You made a new friend?”

“Uh-huh!” Athena grabbed Apollo’s hand and pulled him forward to meet her mother. “This is Apollo. He helped me when my headphones came off and my ears started to hurt.”

“Is that so?” Athena’s mother knelt to the horn-fringed boy’s level and smiled warmly at him. “Thank you for that. Now, would you be at all bothered if my daughter tagged along with you? She seems to have taken a quite liking to you.”

The red-faced Apollo began to stutter. “Uh, w-w-well, I-I guess not.”

“Yay!” Athena cheered and quickly hugged the boy, causing his face to turn even redder and Phoenix and Maya to snicker.

“Thank you. You’re a very kind young man.” The woman smiled again before looking at her daughter. “Now Athena, you behave and meet me back here in two hours.”

“I will, mommy!” With that, the girl grabbed Apollo’s hand and began to drag him away.

“Hey! Wait up, man!” Clay called out before chasing after his friend and his newfound fangirl.

All the while, Phoenix continued to chuckle in amusement.

“So what’s up for us next, Nick?” Maya asked, pulling his attention away from the admittedly adorable scene.

“Huh? Oh, uh, well… Honestly, it’s getting pretty late,” the lawyer replied, scratching the back of his neck and smiling awkwardly. “Calling it a night’s starting to sound pretty good.”

“Seriously, Nick!?” Maya puffed out her cheeks in her usual manner and glared at him. “That’s such an old man thing to say! There’s still so much to do here!”

“She’s correct, Wright. Why turn in now when there’s still a world of possibilities?” Edgeworth added, having caught up with the group at last.

“Hey, no one asked you – Deserter!” Phoenix retorted. He quickly took a glance around their immediate area to see what attractions were nearby. One thing, in particular, caught his eye. In front of what appeared to be some sort of stage, a large group of people was gathering. “How about we go see what’s going on over there?”

Maya and Edgeworth both directed their attention to where the spiky-haired man was pointing and saw the crowd as well.

“Oh, yeah! I’ll bet something awesome is about to go down! Like maybe the Steel Samurai is about to bust in or something.”

Maya, even here, I think that’s a little far-fetched!

As the trio made their way to the throng, they took notice of something large covered in a sheet on the stage, indicating some sort of unveiling.

“I wonder what’s under there.” Maya voiced her thoughts.

“Well, this place is essentially a huge arcade,” Edgeworth ventured. “Perhaps it’s a new game.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Phoenix noticed none other than Dylan making his way onto the stage and heading for the microphone. He tapped on the object a few times before speaking into it.

“Testing, testing.”

The speakers noisily echoed his accented voice at a high pitch through the room, causing Phoenix, Edgeworth, and Maya to cover their ears at the loud sound. The young employee visibly cringed at the pain he’d caused everyone and rushed to a control panel to dial down the volume. He then made his way back to center stage and smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry about that folks. Ahem, now that I could have everyone’s attention, I’ve got an announcement to make. Now, I’m sure everyone here has been having a blast tonight.”

Speak for yourself, mate. Phoenix thought to himself as he scowled at his rival.

“But tonight we got a special treat just for you folks here. I’m sure you all have been itchin’ to see what we got under here, what with the flyers all over the place.”

Were there flyers for this? Edgeworth wondered, oblivious to his rival’s glare. I don’t necessarily recall seeing any. Though word must have gotten around somehow.

“So I reckon it’s about time we cut the crap and show ya what you’ve been waiting for.” The teen from Down Under stepped close to the object and gripped the sheet, taking a moment for a dramatic pause. “Nerds, nerdettes, and gamers of all ages… feast your eyes on…” He pulled the sheet off finally. “Crossfire!”

Hidden underneath the sheet was perhaps the most ridiculously designed machine of all time! What appeared to be a widescreen TV rested on a pedestal in the center of the contraption, but it was the accessories that truly emphasized the bizarreness of it all. Attached to on either side of the pedestal seemed to be a small arsenal of medieval weaponry! Lances, swords, shields, and even maces were amongst them. Even more insane was the addition of what appeared to be two mechanical bulls attached to the platform of the machine, though it appeared that they could rotate to be in front of the machine. The whole game appeared to be about the size of three mini-vans placed side by side!

“Having been in development for several years, Crossfire is the ultimate in medieval competition simulation!” Dylan began to elaborate. “Encompassing all the favorites, such as sword fighting, archery, and of course, the joust, Crossfire spares no expense in putting you in the shoes of a knight valiantly charging into battle.”

The young man made his way to one side of the machine and grabbed something from among the variety of objects, which appeared to be a knight’s helmet.

“Unlike a lot of the games already available here, Crossfire is brought to life using virtual reality headsets, handcrafted to fit inside of your very own helmet!” He stuck the helmet on his head. “Using this, you are placed right into the action as you venture forth to slay dragons and conquer all challengers!”

This is quite possibly the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard of! Phoenix snorted to himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, the lawyer noticed his assistant drinking in all of this information and practically salivating at the prospect of it, obviously not sharing his derisive thoughts at all!

“But,” Dylan interrupted the spiky-haired man’s thoughts as he removed his helmet. “It won’t do just to hype it all up. No, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So, I’d like to ask for two volunteers to come up and give the game its initial christening! Free of charge, of course.”

All around them, people mumbled amongst themselves, all seeming a bit skeptical about all of this.

Suddenly, the psychic grabbed Phoenix’s hand and raised it in the air.

“We got two volunteers right here, mate!” The spirit medium announced in a very poor imitation of an Australian accent.

Good God, woman! You better hope he doesn’t get offended by that!

“Uh, Maya, you sure you’re up for virtual reality right now? I’m still not sure you’ve worked all the alcohol out of your system.”

“Oh, please! I’m not volunteering, Nick!” Maya exclaimed. “This one’s all you and Miles!”

It was then that Phoenix took notice of Edgeworth, whose hand Maya had also raised. It all finally clicked for Sir Blue Knight. Maya wanted these two to settle things in the most fitting way possible. With weapons in hand and armor on the head!

“Maya, I actually am not quite feeling up for this myself.” Edgeworth frowned “I’m still a tad worn out from our laser tag excursion.”

“Oh, C’mon! Don’t back out on me, guys!” Maya smiled coyly. “Isn’t this what you two have been hoping for all night? A chance to do battle for the fair maiden’s heart?”

Both lawyers’ eyes widened in astonishment at this remark.

Ngh! She knows!? Edgeworth was wholly gobsmacked.

When the hell did she get sober enough to figure that out!? Phoenix screamed in his head.

“So how about it, guys?” Maya prompted, batting her lashes coquettishly. “Settle this the old-fashioned way! Or should I say ye olde fashioned way?”

Both men stared at the young woman for a moment, unsure of what to make of the whole situation. It wasn’t until they regarded one another that a decision was made.

Determined indigo orbs met equally resolute slate ones. Crackling electricity seemed to bounce between the two Ace Attorneys and a fire ignited in each of their eyes.

It. Was. On.

“So what’s the verdict there, mates?” Dylan smilingly coaxed from the stage. “Are you in or out?”

“I’m in,” Phoenix told the Australian youth, arching a brow at his rival. “What about you, Edgeworth?”

“You know I am never one to back down from a challenge, Wright.” Sir Red Knight smirked at his frenemy. “I accept your challenge. And may the best man win.”

“Oh don’t you worry, Edgeworth.” Sir Blue Knight lifted his chin as he extended his hand towards the prosecutor, who returned the firm handshake. “I will.”