181 Nowhere To Run

“You do not get to choose the events that come your way nor the sorrows that interrupt your life. They will likely be a surprise to you, catching you off guard and unprepared. You may hold your head in your hands and lament your weak condition and wonder what you ought to do. Your pain is changing you. Pain will change you more profoundly than success or good fortune. Suffering shapes your perception of life, your values and priorities, and your goals and dreams. To suffer is common to all. To suffer and still keep your composure, your faith, and your smile, now that is remarkable.”
~ David E. Crosby ~

Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey
The Savoy Hotel, London
July 21, 2026, 6:05 AM

“I’m trying to figure out which one of us two had more of a rude awakening during our separate London tours yesterday, Nick! After all, on top of my mouth nearly getting a third-degree burn, I also had to endure quailing mortification when the contumacious hoyden, Anneliese, dragged our unsuspecting jacksies to London’s risqué Soho district! Try as I might, I will never be able to …un-see those depraved scenes of unapologetic debauchery!”

The psychic shuddered dramatically as she relayed the latest lurid detail from her nightmare “babysitting” adventure.

“Do you know that impertinent rapscallion had the gall to not only mock me… but then dared to laugh at me for covering my Pearly’s innocent eyes, due to the litany of meretricious sex shops, and outrageously revealing outfits worn by some of the exhibitionist drag queens at the gay bars? For the record, I have zilch issues with the whole LBQT scene!”

Maya lowered her voice a notch as she and Phoenix entered the posh lobby of The Savoy Hotel.

“However, believe me when I tell you that even the flamboyant Longines Beaugosse at his most outré would have seemed like a Boy Scout in comparison to some of those patrons! At least my former fiancé’s bollocks weren’t ever hanging out of his Daisy Duke booty shorts! My innocent daughter does not need to be seeing any of that before her wedding night! And maybe not even then!”

Phoenix’s jaw dropped only for a split second at the mental imagery… right before he cracked up uproariously as he envisioned the shocking scene, which only earned him a withering glower from his girlfriend, who’d clearly been hoping for sympathetic outrage on her behalf. Her voice grew rife with indignation.

“Nick! It’s not funny, you insensitive jerk-face!” The spirit medium puffed out her cheeks grumpily. “Fine, forget me – but I’m positive Pearly is still scarred by the fashion faux pas… of that dude who looked like a lady! Nonetheless, that impromptu indecent exposure was a cakewalk compared to the stridently amatory burlesque shows, which run rampant in Soho. That whole overall area is only a slightly tamer version of The Red Light District in Amsterdam!”

Phoenix was attempting to appear contrite while vainly attempting to cease his snickering at the colorful anecdote, but failing miserably – the Master was just so adorably endearing when she was in irate chipmunk mode!

“I’m sorry, my love. No doubt Franziska’s niece imagined you’d be less … despotic and more footloose while on vacation! Even I had no idea until this precise moment, just how conservative and delicate your sensibilities had become with age!”

His amused commentary only earned him an irate swat to the arm as the couple entered the hotel elevator.

“Argh! Don’t you make fun of me, Phoenix Wright! You sound just like that snotty, bellicose … German brat!”

Maya clenched her fists.

“That invidious whippersnapper actually tried to make me out as some sort of dowdy, didactic harridan because I dared reproach her for committing the solecism of deeming such kinky surroundings would be suitable for a group of unsullied teens! Anneliese simply didn’t seem to grasp that despite being close in age, none of these innocent kids were anywhere near as worldly or sophisticated as her xenophile heinie is!”

She blew upward at her fringe in agitation.

“Miss Thang loftily informed me Europeans have a much more relaxed attitude about sex than us ‘uptight, repressed Americans’ do and then decreed that The Continent and Xanadu places like Soho were no place for an intransigent, rhadamanthine ….Old Lady!”

This time Phoenix didn’t laugh but merely arched an eyebrow at her, which halted her irked monologue immediately, his silent message dawning upon her like a bucket of ice water being dumped over her head.

“OK, fine! I know that look!” The flustered diviner swung her gaze away from his knowing expression. “Maybe she’s right! Perhaps I am less hip than I thought I’d be for certain things since becoming a single parent to a jejune girl, whose virtue I want to preserve just a wee bit longer … dammit, Nick! Stop smirking at me like that!”

Her cheeks burned and the rest of her humbled admission came out muffled as she flung herself across the lift and buried her face against him.

“Or maybe Anneliese dubbing me an Old Lady was my divine retribution for all my years of calling you an Old Man!”

“Heh, heh. It sounds like somebody can’t shake herself from overprotective mama bear mode so soon after our shared harrowing incident of thinking we’d walked in on our eldest daughter and her boyfriend in a… compromising position!”

Phoenix chuckled indulgently and pulled Maya’s chastened form against him in a tight embrace.

“Even if this were a fated case of vengeful Von Karma, the fact remains that any hardships I endured at the hands of my Burger Queen during her demanding teenage years were repaid ten-fold yesterday, so I can now officially consider us to be even!”

She let out a soft groan of defeat and dropped her head back against the comforting pillar of his chest, prompting the pianist to drop a commiserating peck on her forehead.

“I’m sorry for continuing to selfishly grumble about my brutal day, when yours was hardly a picnic either, Nick! After all, it couldn’t have been easy for you to endure the knowledge of acclaimed fame being enjoyed by that loathsome slug/wannabe artist who somehow got off scot-free for all his crimes by striking a deal with the prosecution and falsely fingering you for forgery!”

“More than anything in the world, I wish I was the more liberosis sort who honestly couldn’t care less about Drew Misham, or his claim to fame being the semi-biographical book, The Adventures of Sunny Righteous & Tracy the Bunny. But I can’t, because you’re undeniably right, Maya.”

Phoenix sighed and shook his head morosely.

“It was unequivocally gut-wrenching to find out my misfortune is another man’s literal fortune. I’ve tried to be glib about the whole thing, and wondered if Apollo would forget he’s not a prosecutor and try to sue for royalties upon discovering he and Trucy were famous subjects in overseas children’s books, albeit in bunny format! But thinking about the whole thing just feels like rubbing salt into old wounds – ones which I’d hoped would have healed by now.”

He leaned his head back against the comforting caress of Maya’s fingers, which had reached up to gently stroke his spikes as he lamented.

“Oh, Nick,” she whispered, her voice tinged with sorrow. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’ll be alright, Maya.” He smiled hearteningly and placed a kiss on her palm before taking it and guiding her out of the elevator as they arrived at their friends’ floor. “At least I wasn’t alone when I made the discovery. Edgeworth was there with me, and was quick to bestow one of his usual pearls of wisdom.”

“What did he say?”

“In essence, one never truly moves on from the loss of a loved one, or, as in my case, from the loss of something that was deeply cherished. However, with time, one can learn to coexist with the absence and start the process of healing, ultimately rebuilding oneself around the pain of the loss. Although one may become whole again, one can never be the same, nor should one strive to be. The agony of the loss will bring about a more profound change than success or good fortune ever could. Suffering shapes one’s perception of life, values, priorities, goals, and dreams – the pain itself transforms them. Ultimately, he helped me realize that even though we are products of our past, we don’t have to be prisoners of it.”

“Well rub egg on my face and dip me in breadcrumbs! Mr. Roboto taught you all that?” Maya was beyond amazed and unable to mask the awe in her voice. “I know he’s your best friend and all, but while I’ve also prided myself on knowing Miles pretty well too, obviously there’s a whole other compassionate and philosophical side of him which I’ve been unaware of, even after all this time!”

“Edgeworth is an enigma that way,” Phoenix affirmed, a note of fondness in his intonation now. “He seems all cold and aloof, but there’s so much more to him if you’re one of the lucky ones he allows to get closer to that frosty surface. He’s one of those guys who’s like an iceberg, with just a bit you can see…but loads you can’t.”

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“The man is the kind who, when he finally realizes he’s been deeply heard … really appreciates it. Like, more than most. It’s as though you can see his eyes literally moisten. I think in some real sense, he’s weeping for joy. It’s as though he’s saying, ‘Thank God, somebody heard me. Someone knows what it’s like to be me.’ That is the true Miles Edgeworth.”

A slight smile tugged at the ex-attorney’s lips, as though suddenly remembering something.

“Mr. Secret Softy also has a very well-hidden sense of humor that only a privileged few get to see as well! Do you know he actually managed to make me laugh about the whole picture book thing? He said that an Apollo Justice lawsuit would be the least of Misham’s worries – he was just lucky Kristoph Gavin never found out about those books!”

“But why would Miles say that?” Maya was confused. “What would make him fathom that dastardly, murderous fiend would even care about such a thing?”

“Because Gavin’s narcissist, image-obsessed Arsch wouldn’t be pleased with the über unflattering light in which he was portrayed as the boss of Sunny Righteous in those books!”

The card shark cleared his throat and affected the prosecutor’s stern manner of speaking, even though his lips trembled with barely suppressed mirth as he did so.

“Wright, Misham’s portrayal of your conceited nemesis as a winged devil creature with a single yellow horn, wearing a bright periwinkle suit, who’s so fastidious with maintaining his immaculately buffed manicure that he actually uses nail polish to maintain that restorative shine, would undoubtedly cause Gavin’s nostrils to flare with murderous rage!”

Phoenix continued with gusto as his lover’s shoulders began shaking with helpless laughter.

“Upon finding himself depicted in such a debasing manner, I wouldn’t put it past the Coolest Creep in the West to be so incensed about the depiction of his character, he’d attempt to extinguish the artist himself! His snuff-out technique would be thumping him over the head with a wine bottle, aka the same modus operandi used on Shadi Smith! Mercifully, Misham has managed to escape such a fate, but only due to the fact that his vengeful art subject is already safely behind bars!”

“Tee hee!” Maya continued giggling maniacally, and the poker champ joined in the merriment as he concluded the Miles Edgeworth tale of hilarity.

The howling couple had to halt in their tracks several yards away from the logic genius’s suite in order to lean back against the hallway wall for support until they regained their composure.

“Edgy is just too awesome!” The village leader rasped, at last, wiping her streaming eyes, then sobered as the tell-tale bells of the mammoth timepiece located at the nearby Palace of Westminster resounded just then. “Yikes! That’s the quarter-past-hour chime I just heard! That means it’s already 6:15!”

“That clock is such a snitch, ratting out our tardiness like that!” Phoenix joked as he quickened his footsteps down the hall toward their intended destination. “Barnham told me you can hear Big Ben from up to five miles away!”

“Ugh, Big Ben! Please don’t call it that, I beg you!” Maya grimaced. “Big Ben was the name of the featured exotic male dancer on-stage at Stringfellow’s Angels, the Soho strip club that sneaky Anneliese tried luring us into!”

She pursed her lips at the memory.

“Fortunately, our eyes were spared and he was still in his G-string, so we were spared The Full Monty! I practically left smoke trails behind us as I pulled the mother of all U-turns and speed-ushered everyone out of there! I thought poor Luke was about to die of embarrassment!”

“That’s enough, Maya! I give up!” Phoenix snorted, raising his hands in mock surrender. “You win! Your day yesterday was officially worse than mine!”

“No kidding! I sure as heck didn’t have a best friend to cheer me up during our wacky sightseeing debacles with Manfred’s demonic grandchild during the day … although nothing could have atoned for that whole mess that happened during my performance at The Ritz!”

A long sigh.

“I’m pretty sure with the way she hightailed it out of there right after Layton took off, that Katharina’s
never going to speak to me again after last night – and just when I finally thought I had a real,
genuine connection with her! Thanks to the Nutty Professor, I not only lost what could’ve been a wonderful new friend but my much-needed ticket to finding Franziska!”

Maya frowned unhappily at the memory and sagged heavily against her beau as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a consoling hug.

“We better hurry, Nick.” She heaved a gusty, resigned sigh. “Miles is no doubt going to be beyond furious enough with me when I tell him about how my whole surprise plan of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner blew up my face! We can’t risk having him going into a Gavin-like rage and becoming incensed with your tardy self, too!”

“I’m sure you’ll find some way to smooth things over with Katharina. You always manage to work things out, in the end, no matter how badly the odds are stacked against you, my love. Moreover, Edgeworth may not show it, but he absolutely adores you.”

Phoenix’s tone was gently reassuring as he stroked her cheek.

“However, he might be a little bit miffed with you for not letting him know you crossed paths with his ex-fiancée’s sister, but he’s not going to blow his stack over you keeping a secret, any more than he’ll freak out at me about a mere 15-minutes delay in my arrival. As luck would have it in both our cases, our favorite Anglophile, Kilometers Edgeworth no doubt will be too excited about doing equestrian curvets while playing polo and then hobnobbing with England’s upper crust whilst having tea in the home of royalty to really give a toss about such trivialities!”

He grinned impishly at his pensive inamorata.

“But above all, Sir Ruffles prides himself on being a gentleman, and always tends to behave himself in the presence of a lady. So even if he is royally ticked off at both of us, he’s so polite you’d never know!”

“That’s true enough, I suppose,” Maya agreed tentatively as they reached Edgeworth’s suite and found, to their surprise, that the door was slightly ajar. “The only thing about the Mr. Cool as a Cucumber that’s ever ruffled
is his cravat! He’s the forever calm, level-headed, gallant sort who wouldn’t dream of ever losing his cool – Gah!”

The words were barely out of her mouth as she and Phoenix stepped into the room – then barely leaped out of harm’s way, just as, amidst a litany of expletives, a large, Unidentified Flying Object came soaring in their general direction – before unceremoniously crash landing mere inches from where they stood.

FA-THUD!

The two swains goggled down at the profanity-spewing heap with identical, saucer-sized orbs, exchanging brief, stupefied gapes amongst themselves before returning their disbelieving stares at the floor, jaws dropping to their chests simultaneously.

Because the UFO that’d been hurtled in their direction was none other than the Wolf Man himself … Special Interpol Agent, Shi-Long Lang.

Zacharias Barnham
Barnham’s Flat, London
July 21, 2026 (sometime before dawn)

BRINGG! BRINGG!

“Cor Blimey!”

Zacharias Barnham never had been, nor ever would be, a morning person. Especially not on his day off, when he’d hoped to sleep in until at least 9:00, and a bleary-eyed glance at his alarm clock informed him with was barely dawn!

BRINGG! BRINGG!

“Curse this blasted sod who has the gall to knock me up this early in the morning! Mark me, they’d best have one hell of a good reason for this unforgivable gaff!” The barrister muttered darkly as he groped for the shrilly ringing phone on his bedside table.

Grinding the sleep out of his eyes with his one fist, the former knight attempted to sit up in bed while cradling the receiver against his neck and shoulder, only to have it slip and land onto his tangled bedsheets. He let out a muffled curse, followed by a grunt of disgust as the act of reaching down for the phone only ended up flopping his unruly mane into his eyes, temporarily blinding him.

“Stone the crows!”

Raking an agitated hand through his thick locks to brush it back from his mien, the cranky prosecutor grunted something into the receiver which may or may not have passed for a hullo.

“Knightle?! Are you off your trolley? What in the name of arse are you doing ringing me at this ungodly hour?!”

After listening to the defense attorney’s stammering apologies for a minute, the now officially irked Brit was in no mood to be congenial.

“Are you daft? Of course, I wasn’t already awake at this crepuscular hour, you bloody twit! What’s this? Mayor Cantabella asked you to give me a bell? Humph! Fine! Yes, it’s fine! Yes, I forgive you, Knightle – please halt your blubbering!” He clapped an exasperated hand over his eyes and flopped back onto his pillow. “I’m in no mood for long-winded waffling, so just chivvy along and tell me what you want!”

Barnham shut his exhausted eyes and listened to the other man breathlessly enlighten him on the purpose of this phone call.

“What’s that? Murder?! Cogswoggled!” As if jolted by a lightning rod, he shot back up into a sitting position and swung his long legs over the edge of the bed, now fully alert. “A Yankee teenage girl in Eldwitch Woods … arrested by whom?!”

His cadence rose in dismay.

“Has she gone barmy?! This is bleedin’ bollocks! Doesn’t Eve realize she can’t afford to be even remotely
complicit in these matters, as she’s not part of The Fuzz in either Labyrinthian or Scotland Yard? Moreover, she’s no longer even High Inquisitor Darklaw, ergo, has decisively zero authority whatsoever!”

He listened to Knightle’s nonsensical yakking for another moment before impatiently cutting in again.

“What do you mean it was a citizen’s arrest?! And why do I still hear cats in the background?!”

The Crown Prosecutor paused to take a breath as his colleague regaled him with more disturbing information.

“Bugger and blast! Intercontinental scandal?! The victim wasn’t just some Joe Bloggs – but some nob from a prominent American ancestry, so they’d be out for blood? Are you sure they’re really that prestigious and influential – what with a family moniker like that?! Ah well, what’s in a name, as Shakespeare once wrote, right?”

The lawyer gave his head a hard shake, as though trying to clear the sleepiness from it.

“Of course, you can’t be the defense on the case, mate! You can’t leave the side of your wife  – what with Kira being due with your firstborn any day now!”

Pregnant spouse notwithstanding, you’re also a bloomin’ prat who couldn’t defend his way out of a paper bag! There’s no way we could entrust what’s sure to become an international media circus to a bumbler like you!

“Keep calm, Knightle! I can’t have you going to pieces on me!” Barnham instructed his shaken associate. “Just ensure the Labyrinthian authorities have cordoned off the surrounding area, and make sure the suspect is interrogated but not mistreated in any way! A case like this has to be handled dexterously, so there are no questions about if we followed every rule and regulation!”

He was already reaching for his mobile and scrolling through his contacts.

“Fortunately for us, we have a world-famous prosecutor who boasts unparalleled credibility and just so happens to be visiting here. We both know he has the required international status and qualifications that are necessary for this scenario. Moreover, with him running the show, it will ensure everything will go swimmingly. I shall ring for him post-haste!”

The counselor spoke quickly, in an attempt to wrap up the conversation so he could get onto further matters.

“Don’t you fret about the defense council, my learned friend! I give you my word that this girl shall be treated as innocent until proven guilty – and not vice versa! – will get the best defense out there! With these two legal geniuses in our arsenal, I can guarantee Arthur Cantabella that this fiasco will be handled swiftly, competently, and with utmost discretion!”

Hanging up the receiver, he scrolled through the names stored in his mobile until he got to Hershel Layton’s.

“My apologies, Professor,” Barnham stated grimly as he stared down at the number he was about to call. “I don’t know what you had planned for our American friends today, but I regret to tell you there’s about to be a sudden plan change due to a matter of much greater importance! Things are about to do an unexpected turnabout for you three gents – whether you like it or not!”

Kilometers Edgeworth
The Savoy Hotel, London
July 21, 2026, 6:15 AM

Aside from the sole instance when he’d decked Phoenix for his denigration of Franziska, Miles Edgeworth had never hit another human being before in his entire life.

That isolated, agonizing encounter notwithstanding, there was still no comparison to his present circumstances.

Even though it’d been over seven years ago, he vividly recalled every detail of the painful memory.

That one time he’d raised his hand on his best friend, even if his target hadn’t been a pseudo-Man of Steel, the eternally composed legal eagle would later ruefully acknowledge the blow had truly been barely more than a reflexive jab, effective in all probability because he’d caught his unsuspecting target entirely by surprise.

The strike on his childhood chum had most certainly been nowhere near the league of the full-force shove and subsequent rage-fueled, close-fisted blow, both of which had utilized his entire upper body strength, that he’d just unleashed.

Nevertheless, it was difficult to determine who was more surprised by the impromptu pummel … The unassuming target, or Miles himself, as he surely hadn’t anticipated the searing pain that’d blazed up his arm as his fist connected with the Wolf-Man’s jowl.

It was this very same wallop which had resulted in the wholly unprepared, fully trained in combat Interpol Agent staggering off his feet, then jaculating across the room, plummeting a mere hairsbreadth away from the feet of the gobsmacked Phoenix Wright and thunderstruck Maya Fey, who’d entered the room just in time to behold the higgledy-piggledy showdown outcome.

The slightly dazed barrister hadn’t quite registered the arrival of his latest guests or the full weight of what he’d done just yet. His whirling mind could only lead him to one train of thought regarding the lingering fiery sensation running from his shoulder, right down to his fingertips.

God’s teeth! That hurt like the dickens!

20 Minutes Ago….

Miles Edgeworth and Shi-Long Lang
The Savoy Hotel, London
July 21, 2026

“Agent Lang.” Undeterred, Miles tapped his forefinger impatiently against his bicep. “Cut to the chase, if you will. I’ll wager you didn’t come all the way here, from wherever you were stationed, to engage me in your philosophy teachings.”

“No, I came with an important bulletin.” A flash of bared fang. “One which I think you may find personally
relevant, Miles Edgeworth.”

“Indeed? Well, do go on then,” the chess enthusiast drawled insolently, arching a derisive brow. “To what do I owe the honor of you gracing me with your unexpected presence, Agent Lang?”

“The news is about … your woman.”

All air in the room seemed to have completely dissipated within that moment.

Miles felt his lungs constricting, his steadily climbing resentment towards his superior screeching to a momentarily halt as he found his suddenly dry lips forming the word, entirely incapable of masking the note of hope laced within the three syllables.

“Franziska?” His voice was nearly unrecognizable, even to his own ears. “Do you mean to tell me that you’ve found her at last?”

Lang appeared instantly uncomfortable, all a sudden feigning a curious interest with his sunglasses, which he began polishing with the sleeve of his leather jacket over and over again for several moments before speaking.

“I apologize to have gotten your hopes up with my unintentionally misrepresentative announcement, Edgeworth. With regards to your former lady love, is with great reluctance to report that locating said skittish mare is proving even more problematic than I anticipated. At this point, even a man with a great span of resources has to know when to throw in the towel. Finding that woman is proving to be a Sisyphean task; there is no way it can be done.”

Miles tried to keep his stoic mask in place, he really did, but in that split second, he forgot all about Maya’s disclaimer about the other man’s duplicity and felt an icy fist of despair clench around his heart.

Meine Dame, ever since your departure, I have been sleeping and waking up in solitude. I go for walks, work until exhaustion, and watch the wind stir up the garbage that was buried under the snow all winter. As I ponder about how everything appears simple until I contemplate it, I cannot help but wonder why love is amplified by absence. I have been attempting to adapt to life without you, but I still struggle to comprehend it because a significant part of me remains within you.

The look on his face was hard to miss, and Lang immediately appeared contrite but seemed at a loss for words on how to backpedal on his misleading statement.

“I have never been one to understand relationships, myself, especially not long-distance ones. They rarely last in the long term. I don’t mean to seem callous, but it’s been over a year. Don’t you think it’s time to just let it go?”

In reality, you don’t ever really let go, though. You never completely release your grip. The pain and love persist, and they never truly vanish. You merely carry on with life, and as time goes on, those feelings are gradually relegated to the periphery of your existence, no longer consuming you on a daily basis.

He had to shut his eyes for a moment to compose himself.

The greatest aspiration one can have is to one day feel at peace. While the pain and longing for that individual remain, you gradually become desensitized, and the specifics start to fade away: the scent of their perfume, the taste of their lips, the sensation of their skin, and the sound of their voice. It seems like an entirely different existence, a person that once loved and was with them. Even on good days, this is the reality. Ultimately, day-to-day, the most one can hope for is to be okay.

Unaware of the attorney’s inner musings, Lang evidently wasn’t quite done unwittingly pouring salt into the wound.

“It’s downright impossible for you to move forward if you keep being chained back by ghosts of your past. In all this time, you and Franziska have had thousands of miles separating you, which would’ve probably led to the same result in the end, anyway. Maybe it was destined for that ship to have sailed, you know?”

Shoved into the confines of his trouser pockets, Miles felt his hands unconsciously clenching into fists.

You’re wrong, Agent Lang. A relationship’s demise is not caused by distance alone, but rather the silence, the breakdown of communication, and apathy that ultimately hammer down that final nail in the coffin. But how can such a lone wolf ever truly comprehend such matters?

Lang continued to ramble, not realizing he was only making matters worse.

“I can appreciate how it can be painful to realize not all relationships in life are meant to last. Everyone comes into your life for a season, a reason, and a lifetime. Many will last for a reason, and a blessed few will continue for a lifetime. My father taught me the most important life lesson to discover is some people will enter your life merely for a season, which although the briefest type of connection, still has its own individual cause.”

The Wolf Man began ticking off on his fingers, not realizing the inflicted anguish that was growing within his subordinate with every sentence.

“Spring for planting and nurturing the seeds of your joy. Summer for enjoying the fruits of that labor. Autumn for the decaying that fertilizes and preserves what once was. Winter for simply resting and taking a break.”

Of all the times for Lang to start waxing poetic. Miles thought with a pang, struggling to keep his expression neutral. That last lesson and consequential loss is certainly the most devastating of all, for how do you go back to being strangers with someone who once entered not just your life … but your very soul?

With the last of his willpower, it was then the prosecutor’s turn to grit his teeth and barely refrain from showing a flash of his own fang. Instead, he opted to resume his previous umbrage towards his boss as a means to deflect from the Pandora’s Box of misery that had just been unleashed within him.

“As much as I appreciate the change of pace morphing from the teachings of Lang-Zi to those of your father, Agent Lang, this isn’t the Shi-Long Lang Wax Philosophical Power Hour.” Miles was struggling to keep his temper. “Before your unsolicited love advice of blithely advising me to keep calm and carry on from the woman whom I’ve loved for nearly the past decade of my life, you baited me with the proclamation that you had news about ‘my woman.’ Seeing as how you were not speaking about Franziska, pray tell you finally divulge as to whom you were referring?”

“I never meant to get your hopes up, only to get your attention and maybe rile you up a mere smidgen as payback for not letting me know that you were in town,” Lang admitted, tucking his sunglasses away in his pocket and staring his subordinate straight in the eye. “The news I had wasn’t so much about Miles Edgeworth’s woman so much as it was about the one belonging to a particular perished billionaire playboy going by the name of Maximillian Banks – one Debbie Dallas.”

“Lana?” A flicker of genuine dread coursed through him. “Has something happened to her?”

“I’m starting to think in terms of the worst-case scenario, to be blunt. According to eyewitnesses that were questioned, she was last seen in a village marketplace somewhere in Romania – but that was days ago. She’s since disappeared without a trace, and nobody can reach her or knows of her whereabouts. She isn’t answering her phone, and the tracking device that we last had upon her person appears to now be defunct; we can no longer ascertain her whereabouts.”

“Tracking device? Defunct?” Miles was startled. “After all this time it’s still unfathomable to me to hear about how much access Interpol has to the most top-of-the-line, 007 spyware.”

“The aggiornamento called for by Interpol in keeping up to date on all our agents via microchip trackers rivals that of the Vatican church on its holiest of men,” Lang replied dryly, his flippant tone belying the concern on his mug. “Yes, we have the best technology available at our disposal, but that doesn’t mean it’s foolproof. The reason we are starting to suspect foul play is that the tracking mechanism is no longer working. And only a few circumstances would render the chip unreadable: if the agent has been confined, either in some sort of armored vehicle…or very thick concrete surroundings.”

“Thence, you deduce that she’s been kidnapped.” Miles’s apprehension was slowly being replaced by aggravation. “This is ludicrous! Lana wasn’t ever supposed to have been in a vulnerable enough position that allowed this to happen! Even if she was the European ground asset for the cocoon sting operation, she never should’ve been alone when on duty – what happened to her backup?”

“Who said she was on duty when this happened? Even Interpol Agents have days off, and don’t have a bodyguard with them 24/7, Edgeworth!” Lang retorted defensively. “Kay is at Interpol HQ in Borginia combing through all the leads, and Badd –”

“What else is being done in the meantime to locate Lana, whilst we calmly stand here discussing matters, when an Agent’s life could very well be in jeopardy?”

Miles felt adrenaline beginning to pump through his veins, matching the now throbbing one in his temple.

“Much like the time when we went to Ku’s party, and that poor woman was coerced into taking cocaine and suffering its ill effects, simply because you didn’t have the foresight to give her the preventative drugs that could’ve thwarted the aftermath…”

“Are you seriously trying to blame me for the fact that Lana’s missing?” Lang’s phizog turned red with anger. “Is this some sort of sick joke?”

“Do I look like the joking type to you!?”

Miles eyed him stonily, all his latent stinging from hearing the other man’s tactless Franziska speculations rising to the surface as he directed his next rebuking words at the agent.

“You’ll have to forgive me for not being overly jannock about matters in this particular instance! I can’t help but shake the feeling that this also was a preventable situation where you’ve somehow blundered and committed yet another epic fail!”

“Lang-Zi says: before aiming for the throat, chew the neck shield off first.” Lang’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “If you’re trying to attack me with your words, know that I am a warrior bearing multiple layers of armor, for the late, great philosopher of detainment also passed down all his learned teachings to his descendants. He also says: those with a shield on their back deflect all enemies behind them.”

“Enemy? Hey! I’m not the bad guy here!” Miles returned the agent’s lethal glare with one of his own. “Exactly what are you trying to convey here, Agent Lang?”

“It means I will successfully deflect any and all ammo you hurl at me, pretty boy, literally and figuratively. Remember that I can be your lifelong pack member or your lifelong foe. The choice is yours. Just choose wisely, for the wrath of a wolf lasts a hundred years.”

The logic lover felt as though his head was about to explode any minute. His former paramour was ostensibly in danger, yet her boss was content to simply stand there spouting banal parables while baring his fangs and making his fur stand on end in order to assert his pack dominance!

“Was that a threat?” He asked icily, crossing his arms and staring Lang down.

“Take it any way you want, He Who Bears Avian Winged Creature Upon On His Head, which momentarily seems to have taken over and fittingly rendered him bird-brained, as he seems to have temporarily forgotten his place.” The Wolf Man snarled, his fangs on full display. “As well as having foolishly forgotten that the wolf is mightier than the crow.”

The two Alpha males circled each other warily, neither one ready to back down and fully ready to go for the jugular without fear or recourse.

Miles was the first to regain his sanity and calmly assess the situation.

What the hell am I doing here, engaging in a pissing contest with this man, whom I officially trust as far as I can throw at this point? I have sat idly by and put my fate in his hands for far too long – but no more! It’s time for me to stop being a man content to merely continue this caveman style of verbal sparring, and to become one of action!

“I refuse to partake in this nonsense any longer,” he stated firmly. “Agent Lang, you commanded me to continue with my aid in this sting operation, an undertaking which I could only fulfill by putting my upcoming responsibilities as Chief Prosecutor on the back burner. I will not allow that sacrifice to have been for naught. Most importantly, I am certainly not helping anybody in the mission by idly standing here. This conversation is over. Now please remove yourself from my path as I answer the call of duty.”

“What call of duty?” Lang demanded furiously, standing his ground and refusing to move out of the way. “Have you forgotten that I am your boss and you’re not to make even the slightest move in this operation without first getting the green light from me?! I only came by here to give you the news about Lana before I headed over to inform our Interpol Agents here in England about this latest turn of events! You are hereby commanded to stand by and await further instructions…”

“I am through with relying on you for anything anymore, Agent Lang – including your orders!”

Miles attempted to stalk past his boss on the way to the door, fully intending to grab the next taxi to the airport on the first flight to join Kay Faraday in Borginia, with nothing more than the clothing on his back. He had gotten no more than a half-foot past the other man when the Wolf Man’s arm shot out and placed a vice grip on his shoulder, momentarily halting him midstride.

“Just where the hell do you think you’re going, Mr. Prosecutor?” Lang growled, his eyes like lasers. “And don’t you dare turn your back on me while I am still addressing you, pretty boy!”

“I do not respond to dares, any more than I do threats or orders, least of all coming from you!” The prosecutor gritted his teeth, the epinephrine now racing full throttle as he attempted to shake off the ruthless claws digging into his arm. “I will be of more use being an ally to Agent Faraday, in a country much closer to the one where Lana was last spotted, rather than stagnantly remaining here and engaging in this pointless sparring with you, Agent Lang! Now unhand me at once.”

“Lang-Zi says: No matter how young the cub, never pity an ungrateful pup! Disobey me now, and best be prepared for the consequences of your actions!” The death grip on the prosecutor’s suit jacket didn’t budge. “I am your superior, Miles Edgeworth and I will not allow this act of insubordination!”

A crimson mist veiled the normally Arcadian barrister’s vision.

At this moment, I am experiencing an unprecedented level of acrimony as I am being pressured to be passive against my wishes. Unfortunately, this is what the alleged Alpha figure here anticipates. He erroneously believes that, as the supposed dominant male, he can coerce me to acquiescence, even if I resist or express my now mounting aggravation. If I suppress my fury, he will think he’s won and continue to treat me as a doormat. On the other hand, if I unleash my wrath, I become a vexation, one that’s best disregarded until I favorably resume my obedience.

Miles felt his captive arm begin to shake from the force of adrenalin now pumping in his blood.

If I insist on being recognized for the anguish that I have experienced, I can anticipate that he will counter with his own combative ferocity, which is his last resort to force me back into submission. If I refuse to comply, I can expect the often-heard-of but never-actually experienced “freeze-out” treatment. The prolonged, passive-aggressive employer method of punishing minions by keeping them completely out of the loop, and intends to demonstrate how little my presence is required by making it clear that I am expendable in the grand scheme of things. Consequently, the intense fury that I feel within me shall transform into a smoldering resentment that I suppress, leading to a lingering bitterness that persists. However, this rage that I have been suppressing until now, due to the betrayal of this Judas who most definitely knows where Franziska is – and may or may not have been warming her bed all this time – will be my opportunity for liberation.

“Shi-Long Lang!” Miles hissed through ground molars, his expression downright ominous now. “Get. Your. Goddamned. Hands. Off. Of. Me!”

“The leader of the pack never takes orders from an insolent cub!” Lang gnashed his teeth and only tightened his hold. “I’m not a man who’s all talk, Edgeworth! Mark my words – I have no reservations about demonstrating a little show of muscle if I need to muzzle a sniping, intransigent pack member!”

It was at that exact moment the halcyon chess enthusiast officially snapped at last.

As a natural pacifist, I have always preferred to keep my battles in the courtroom, relying solely on my words as my weapon of choice. Despite my mounting ire towards this blasted man, I had never truly intended to resolve our conflict through any sort of physical altercation. With a keen sense of intrapersonal intelligence, I am fully aware of my personal strengths and limitations. If you seek my guidance, I will teach you. If you demonstrate greater skill, I will respectfully bow and learn from you. I am just as eager to learn and broaden my horizons as I am to mentor and take others under my wing, as I once did with the young Sebastian Debeste many years ago. While I am not arrogant, disrespect towards me can trigger even the most mild-mannered person. If you wish to push me to my limits or assert superfluous and poorly timed dominance, then so be it. We will see who will leave with their pride in a plaster.

All logical thought and rationale left his brain in a flash. Miles’s mind was entirely devoid of any lucid thought when he let out his boiling antipathy and swung his tight fist, too quick and potent, into Lang’s prominent jaw; the impact was like thousands of venomous blades piercing apart his clenched fist.

Back to Present

Miles Edgeworth and Phaya
The Savoy Hotel, London
July 21, 2026

As the steaming, visibly livid Wolf Man, rubbed his now bruised jawline, almost identical in color to the lawyer’s suit, the stupefied Phoenix found his voice at last.

“Jesus Henry Christ playing basketball with the saints on a glass bicycle!” He croaked, staring with aghast, silver-dollar-sized orbs at his fuming mate. “Edgeworth! What the heck is going on here?!”

“That was for lying to me about Franziska for the past year and allowing Lana to come in harm’s way – yet again!”

Miles was plainly not at all repentant and ruthlessly continued addressing the fallen Agent as he attempted to get back to his feet.

“I don’t know how I managed to restrain myself from boxing your ears for also costing me both the rare opportunity to enjoy the sport of kings at The Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club and having tea at Buckingham Palace with your ill-timed arrival!”

“Ane-san?” Clearly, the assaulted party wasn’t so injured that he could refrain from using the ironic but affectionate Japanese term for older sister, which he called Franziska on occasion. “Are you out of whatever is left of your mind, Edgeworth? What does she have to do with the fact that you have suddenly turned into a loose cannon?”

“Agent Lang, for giving me such a great opening … I thank you.” Miles treated him to a humorless smile. “Just sit back, relax … and enjoy the sound of the noose tightening around your own neck.”

“Do either one of you know what the hell he’s going on about?!” The Interpol head turned to Phoenix and Maya, appearing genuinely baffled. “One of our Agents may have been kidnapped, yet this raving lunatic here is seizing this opportunity to take out the fact that his girlfriend dumped him over a year ago… On me?”

“I’ve never known Miles Edgeworth to ever be a violent man, Agent Lang, so I have little doubt that whatever you did to provoke him into using physical force was very well deserved.” Maya folded her arms over her chest and pinned the Wolf Man with her most unyielding stare. “I’d say our dear friend has won this round of whatever battle the two of you were engaged in, so don’t you think it’s time to come clean? Why don’t you just man up and admit you haven’t been searching for Franziska all this time, as he implored you to do? Just confess already that you’ve known about her whereabouts this whole time!”

“Is that what provoked this attack?” Lang demanded, still rubbing his aching mug and scowling at his underling. “You think I’m the reason your ex has been playing the game of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego with you?”

Miles’s response was a baleful glare.

“I’m not going to be your scapegoat, Edgeworth. Not for this.” The Zheng-Fa denizen shook his head firmly. “I was put between a rock and a hard place. In the end, I chose to remain silent if that was what it took to keep one of my best Agents on duty. But I give you my word, choosing to remain hidden from you was not
my decision whatsoever! That was a stipulation that was entirely Franziska’s!”

“Do you honestly believe me to be such a gullible fool that I would ever again trust a single word coming out of your duplicitous mouth?” The legist retorted. “Fool me once, shame on me. But fool me twice…”

“Stop it, Miles.” The Master stepped in between the two men as the once again upright Wolf Man growled at the prosecutor. “He’s telling the truth. There are no psyche locks this time.”

“I don’t see any, either,” Phoenix added anxiously. “I know it might be painful to hear, Edgeworth, but whatever the reason is that Franziska’s hiding from you, Agent Lang isn’t the cause.”

“I may have been in touch with her for business-related matters, but I haven’t seen Franziska for some time…”

….with her clothes on? Miles silently added with a sneer, while letting out an ungentlemanly snort of derision at what he perceived to be mere half-truths, at best.

“It’s the truth!” Lang insisted plaintively. “She’s been playing nursemaid to Badd all this time while he’s been recovering from his injuries, but aside from the detective, none of us have seen Franziska since her initial visit to see him at the hospital! She made me ensure her arrival time in Borginia was long after you and Lana had left for your missions. It was the last globe-trekking operation I delegated to you both when I ordered you to track down those leads that Lou Pole, Badd’s fallen mole, managed to snare from Wa Sing Ku.”

“Yet that was back in November of 2025.” Miles sucked in a sharp breath as the excruciating realization sunk in. “I didn’t realize Franziska had left me until I returned home to Germany in April of this year. But you – you knew that she’d packed her bags and checked out of our relationship, even back then, didn’t you?”

Lang guiltily refused to meet his eye, and the attorney’s tone raised several decibels.

“You knew the truth this whole time. Nevertheless, you still let me plead with you, like a desperate, besotted fool, to find the woman I loved. This was despite being cognizant of the fact that, for whatever reason, she no longer wanted anything to do with me! Moreover, you were privy to this information for a full five months
before I found that fateful Dear John letter! Isn’t that right, Agent Lang?!”

The rawness in his normally composed voice was impossible to miss, and Maya swallowed hard, unsure how to add to her friend’s justified feelings of betrayal by divulging her own inadvertent deception amidst all this heartache. How much could one man possibly be expected to endure?

“I’m sorry, Edgeworth.” Lang looked away from the accusing eyes like a chastised cub. “You’ve every right to hate me for choosing business over personal affairs. But I only trying to do what was best for the pack while trying not to break my word to a lady…”

“You mean you did what you thought would be best for you,” the betrayed man corrected frostily, his aloof exterior now firmly affixed into place. “You thought you’d literally play double agent so you could allegedly remain neutral while continuing to have everyone obey your commands. This way, you got to play puppet master and pull our strings to your every whim – just so you could continue with your precious sting operation, all our personal feelings or heartaches be damned! Wasn’t that your real motive in all of this?”

Lang didn’t answer and was thus treated to a scathing glower that could have bored holes through a wall.

“Your silence speaks volumes, Agent Lang. I shall be off now to do what you intended all along – be a good, obedient little subordinate and do my best to assist in this accursed undercover assignment.” The loathing was evident in Miles’s tone as he abruptly turned on his heel and stormed to the door. “After this is said and done, I see no reason for our paths to ever need to cross again. In fact, if I never see your face again after all is said and done, Boss, it will be too soon.”

He curtly turned his back on his superior then and nodded courteously at Phoenix and Maya as he strode past them with his head held high.

“Wright, please convey my regrets to the Professor about our canceled plans. It would be most appreciated if you could have my butler Sebastian pack up and send my belongings, as I have no time right now to do anything but catch the next available taxi to the airport.”

“Miles – wait!” The psychic cried, having hoped she could confess about Katharina before her courage failed her. “You’re just …leaving? Right now? This instant?”

“Parting is such sweet sorrow, is it not?” The slate-haired man raised a laconic brow. “However, it seems my carefree time as a tourist in Britain has come to a screeching standstill, and I’m now intended to carry on with my true reason for coming back to Europe.”

He smiled thinly as he bowed chivalrously to the spirit medium and hobo.

“I don’t know when we’ll see each other again, my friends, but more than likely when we next cross paths, it will be when I am the new Chief Prosecutor. Until then, I bid you farewell.”

And with that he was gone, leaving the trio behind him in astounded silence.

“Um…soooo…” Phoenix cleared his throat awkwardly, treating the Wolf Man to a sickly grin. “Agent Lang. How, um… Nice to finally make your acquaintance …”

“Yes, it’s a pleasure to get to meet you in the flesh at last – by the way you look even more like Wolverine in person than you do on webcam! – even if it was under the most maladroit circumstances, ever!”

Maya beamed winsomely at the Interpol Agent.

“Moreover, even if I didn’t get the chance to confess my own sins to my favorite prosecutie, at the very least, I got to fulfill my word to him that I would be his human lie detector when he finally confronted you about the whole Franziska thing!”

She planted a quick kiss on the totally unprepared Phoenix’s lips then turned towards the door.

“See ya later, Nick! Tell the Professor I said hi – even if I do still think he sucks n’ stuff after last night! Don’t give me that incredulous look; obviously, the English gentleman has somehow been delayed on his way to come fetch you. Ergo, you naturally need to stick around at your intended meeting location and let him know about the sudden change of plans. As for me, I need to make like a banana and split while it’s still early enough to put my plan of Operation Salvage Relationship with Franziska’s sister into play!”

“You legitimately now have some sort of plan to smooth things over with Katharina?” Phoenix blinked in surprise. “Right before we entered the suite, you were moaning in despair, wondering how you’d go about remedying last night’s debacle!”

“More like a spur-of-the-moment whim, inspired by none other than Agent Lang himself!” She trilled, her dark eyes twinkling with mischief. “It’s not even 6:30 yet, so I plan on hauling tail to Kat’s suite before she heads out to her work conference. Anneliese mentioned what room they’re staying in, so I’m going to sneak in and accost her, just as the Wolf Man here did with Miles!”

“Yes, do use that very same method, because look how well that turned out!” Lang inserted sardonically, gesturing at his sore jaw. “Let’s hope the sibling of the Wild Mare is less prone to violence than Franziska is – especially when receiving a surprise and possibly unwanted visitor!”

“Well, Kat will have no choice but to hear me out if I’m there in person!” The undaunted Maya replied cheerfully. “I am confident I can make an impassioned enough heartfelt plea, before the good doctor is liable to report me, like an unwanted stalker!”

“That’s your great plan?” Phoenix gaped at her. “Ambushing the poor woman in her hotel room and hoping she doesn’t call security to kick you out, seeing as how you are no doubt resorting to this extreme method because Katharina has been refusing to answer your phone calls?”

“Absotively, posilutely!” His girlfriend trilled, winking at the two men as she turned to leave. “If all else fails, I’ll flat-out beg for her forgiveness! Or I’ll serenade her with another song! The point is, I’ll think of something! As you said, Nick … I always do!”

“Famous last words…” Phoenix mumbled to himself as he flopped onto the plush settee in the sitting room, having no choice now but to patiently await the Professor’s arrival. “When will I ever learn to keep my big mouth shut?!”

Maya Fey and Katharina Rudolf
Radisson Blu Portman, London
July 21, 2026

“This place may not be the Savoy but it’s still pretty dang swanky!” Maya noted as she exited the elevator on the floor for Katharina and Anneliese’s room. “Having your own psychology practice must pay pretty well!”

The Kurain head was admiring the vibrant wallpaper and colorful geometric carpet designs in the hall as she headed towards the Rudolf suite when she suddenly heard raised female voices coming from the direction she was heading in – loud, high-pitched shrieks, followed by a mixture of angry English and German.

The next thing she knew, Anneliese came scampering out of the room in a flood of tears, barely noticing Maya’s presence a few feet down until she practically ran into her.

“Anneliese?” She placed a concerned hand on the distressed teen’s arm. “Are you OK?”

“I will be fine, danke.” The blonde girl wiped her wet eyes on her sleeve and offered a watery smile. “What I really need is to get away from here, this instant! I know it is very early, but do you think Pearl would mind if I went to her hotel room right now?”

“Don’t worry, my little girl is used to being up before sunrise to do her spiritual training every morning, so she won’t have any objections to an early visit,” Maya replied kindly. “Are you still up for joining us at Hyde Park today?”

“Of course.” The youngest Von Karma kin nodded swiftly, then cast a furtive glance over her shoulder, looking ready to cry all over again. “Perhaps we can go there earlier than planned? The longer I stay out, the better, as far as I am concerned! In fact, would it be all right if Pearl and I head to the park now, and meet you there after you talk to Mama? I apologize for her ignoring your calls last night, but you can understand why the Professor’s actions would have been upsetting…”

“That’s my cross to bear,” Maya dismissed with a wave of her hand, giving the German’s shoulder a little pat. “You go on ahead. I’ll meet you guys at the Lido Café and Bar. I hope my daughter can perhaps ease whatever is troubling you better than I can.”

“There is nothing to be done.” Anneliese’s chin trembled slightly. “I cannot un-hear the things that I have heard… Achtung! It sounds as if someone is coming out of our room. Forgive me, but I must go now. I –I am not ready to face her just yet. Please excuse me. Auf Wiedersehen, Maya.”

The teen opted to forgo the lift entirely and flung open the door to the stairwell, dashing down the stairs as though the hounds of hell were after her, just as the necromancer heard Katharina’s angry voice carry out into the hallway.

“How could you do that to her?” The normally soft-spoken psychologist shouted at whoever was occupying the room with her. “Whatever were you thinking?! Was zum Teufel ist los mit dir?”

“There is nothing the devil wrong with me, except for the fact that I will not allow you to be disrespected in my presence!” A very familiar voice responded heatedly. “Anneliese is no longer a small child that needs to be protected with the guise of falsehoods! She deserves to hear the truth!”

That voice! Maya’s pulse quickened. I know that voice!

“It was not your truth to tell! You may look like our saintly Mama, but when it comes to your callow, heartless actions, you are no better than that monster we called father!” Katharina exploded wrathfully. “In fact, I daresay an den Früchten erkennt man den Baum!”

“How dare you try to insult me in such a manner by claiming that the apple does not fall far from the tree when all I was trying to do was defend your honor!”

“There is a time and place for tough love, and this most assuredly was not one of them!” The doctor cried fervently. “I will have to deal with you later! Right now, I need to go find my daughter, whose heart you have just broken!”

The door to the room swung open, and Maya quickly flattened herself against the side wall so she wouldn’t be immediately visible to anyone peering out into the corridor.

Instead, she waited until the door had safely shut again, and the psychologist was impatiently pushing the down button for the elevator before she sidled up beside the unsuspecting woman. She then discreetly cleared her throat to get the attention of the distraught and distracted German, whose gray eyes widened in astonishment at the sight of her.

“Maya?!” She gasped, reeling back. “What are you doing here?”

“Guten Morgen. Um, actually, I came to find you, Katharina.”

The diviner smiled weakly, unsure of what to say in light of the latest drama that’d just unfolded moments before.

“Evidently, I am cursed with bad timing when it comes to you. I completely understand if you never want to speak to me again, but I just couldn’t let things stay as they were, what with what happened at The Ritz! Not without at least trying to apologize to you. I swear Professor Layton is normally the kindest gentleman you’ll ever meet!”

Hearing the mention of the Englishman’s name, Katharina’s fair cheeks reddened, and she turned her face away, but not before the village leader saw the palpable hurt in those expressive orbs, which obviously hadn’t dissipated whatsoever since the night before.

“Honestly, I do not know what I have ever done to make that man dislike me so intently or treat me the way he did. To make matters even more complex, our daughters simply adore one another, and I would hate to be the one to create a rift between two newly reunited old friends …”

The American was carefully studying the psychologist’s lovely visage, which was a picture of bewildered despair. The blonde was tracing designs on the carpet with the toe of her sandal, steadily avoiding the probing mocha gaze as spoke.

“We were having such a lovely time dancing,” she continued softly, unable to hide the wistful pang from her tone. “I had not danced with a man like that in years. It seemed as if we complemented one another so well on that dance floor. It was almost …magical…”

She coughed then as if realizing she’d said too much, and tried to speak lightly.

“Ha, ha! Perhaps Anneliese is right and I do need to get out more. Maybe then I would not take it to heart nor feel so slighted that the first dance partner I have had since my divorce cared neither for me nor my footwork, ja?”

“Oh, Kat, I feel so awful!” Maya wailed. “You did nothing to deserve being treated in such a manner. For the life of me, I have no idea what got into the Professor last night! I’m so, so sorry for his absolutely bizarre behavior toward you! I’ve never seen him like this before! In fact, if I didn’t know any better…”

Her words trailed off as she felt a proverbial lightbulb go off in her head, but she managed to bite her tongue in the nick of time before she said too much. Her mind was awhirl at the revelation she’d just had, and she cursed herself for being the most clueless psychic on the planet and not having tuned in sooner!

Suddenly it wasn’t important anymore that she keep Katharina Rudolf around merely for the sake of finding Franziska. There were other reasons now, as well. Ones that had solely to do with the good doctor herself.

“Listen to me, Kat.”

She impulsively took the other woman’s hands and let the German see the veracity on her face.

“I truly meant what I said from the moment I met you. I like you very much. Pearly does, too. We’d both be positively heartbroken to lose your friendship over something like this. Let’s hang out today, just us girls! Phooey on that lame man, Layton!”

Katharina smiled gently and lightly squeezed the brunette’s hand.

“It is rare to meet someone so forthright, and it is truly touching the way you keep attempting to extend your earnest hand in friendship to a woman whom you have only just met, Maya. I promise I will not let this change anything between us.”

Her tone took on an apologetic note.

“However, as much as I hate to seem rude, I must take leave now. There were …words exchanged earlier and Anneliese left here very upset. I must go after her. I had planned on attending a conference later this morning, but in the end, my daughter will be getting her own way, as is tradition. It seems I will be joining you all in Hyde Park today.”

At times like this, Maya realized just how much like Pearl she was, as she shared the same scheming – but only for the greater good! – tendencies as the younger Fey did.

Sure, she could have easily told Katharina she could meet up with her daughter and attempt to make amends at the Strand Palace Hotel, where Anneliese was currently headed to meet the teenage spirit medium, but what fun would that be?

“Actually, I bumped into Anneliese on my way over here. She mentioned that she was going straight to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain at Hyde Park,” she fibbed, putting on her most innocent expression. “Why don’t you chivvy along and meet her there? I’d ask you to wait for me, but you seem to be in a rush – and I need to, ah, use the bathroom.”

“There is a public loo on the other side of the lifts.” Katharina flashed her a hasty smile as she stepped into the elevator. “I shall see you later, my friend.”

“Cheerio!” Maya chirped, waving goodbye until she saw the elevator doors close.

Then she hastily fired off a rapid-fire set of detailed instructions to Luke, Flora, and Pearl via text, confident that she was leaving things in the teens’ capable hands until she could get on the scene herself.

But before anything else, first and foremost, she had one even more important matter to take care of!

Jutting her chin obstinately, she marched right up to Katharina’s room and timidly rapped on the door, putting on her most phony Eastern European accent as she did so.

“Hello, housekeepink!” The village leader trilled, in the manner of a high-pitched parrot. “I bringink you fresh towels!”

“What is the meaning of this foolishness?” A female voice demanded peevishly. “We already have plenty of clean linens and towels…”

Maya affixed her most winsome grin at the person who flung the door open.

“Well then, I’m so very happy to hear that you have everything required to keep you in hotel luxury comfort, Franziska Von Karma!”

“Maya Fey?!” The former prosecutor gasped, her hand flying to her chest. “Was Im Namen Gottes are you doing here?!”

The spirit medium smiled sweetly at her old friend’s flabbergasted expression, then pointedly stuck her foot right in the doorway, just in case the silver-haired woman got any bright ideas.

“You know what else you have? A whole lot of explaining to do, that’s what! And don’t even think about trying to get rid of me by using that whip of yours! I have zero qualms channeling Bruce Lee to subdue you if need be, so … Take That!”

Phoenix Wright and Shi-Long Lang
The Savoy Hotel, London
July 21, 2026

“That frilly prosecutor sure packs a mean right hook! I never would’ve thought he had it in him!”

Lang gratefully accepted the washcloth full of ice the card shark had fetched and applied it to his jowl before sinking beside him on the couch.

“Edgeworth is full of surprises,” the spiky-haired man acknowledged with a smirk. “Although I too have been on the receiving end of a Miles Edgeworth knuckle sandwich in the past … He’s definitely upped his technique over the years! I proudly admit, now that I’ve seen what he’s capable of, to have only swayed slightly on my feet instead of being completely knocked off of them!”

“I am trained in several martial arts and various forms of combat!” Lang huffed. “Pretty boy just caught me off guard, that’s all!”

“I have no doubt you would be a worthy opponent should the occasion of a rematch ever arrive, Agent Lang,” Phoenix replied politely.

Just then, they heard a knock at the door, and the pianist rose to his feet.

“Excuse me, I need to answer that. It must be Professor Layton. I wonder how close The Savoy is to the haberdashery where we were supposed to go for our polo garment fitting. I could’ve sworn our appointment was at 7:00, but I just heard the hourly chime of Big Ben, indicating it’s already a quarter past. It’s not like him to be late.”

The pianist opened the door of Edgeworth’s suite with a friendly, expectant smile.

“Good morning, Professor … wait – Barnham?” He gawked at the British prosecutor. “What the heck are you doing here? Where’s the Professor?”

“Top of the morning to you, good man.”

The redheaded barrister strode into the room, graciously inclining his head in greeting to Lang before affixing the tourist with his famous don’t-argue-with-me expression.

“There’s been a change of plans, I’m afraid. I would’ve been here sooner, but I was unpredictably called to make a certain delivery on behalf of your swain, who decided that today would be the day she’d cash in on that favor that I owed her!”

The former knight’s lips twitched with amusement, then he affected his most no-nonsense tone.

“There’s an American damsel in distress back in a particular medieval town you may have heard of. She’s had some hard cheese handed to her, and we require the services of a certain legal legend to sort out the kerfuffle! Let’s leg it, Sir Blue Knight! You’re returning to Labyrinthia!”