81 Under Pressure

A/N: This next arc covers the final case of JFA in detail so spoiler warning.

I did my best not to make this next mini-arc simply a mere rehashing of the game case, but opted to go into greater, in-depth detail of all the main protagonists involved because JFA was where the true character development began of not only Miles Edgeworth, but the whole Wrightworth Bromance that I know a lot of you love as much as I do! Also, I’d like to show the contrast and character development of Maya the Burger Queen as a teen, versus the one I’ve turned her into, along with the kind, naïve, dorky younger Nick of early games compared to my version of him and then the AJ portrayal of him since.

Ergo, I bring you the novelization of the game at the point in my trilogy, (and canon wise but that’s just my opinion!) Phaya’s dynamic did the ultimate turnabout…and where my Fredgeworth lovers know, their story also began! So, without further ado… Justice for All case 4…Farewell My Turnabout…JP style! 😁


Pressure: pushing down on me,
Pressing down on you, no man ask for.
Under pressure that burns a building down,
Splits a family in two,
Puts people on streets.

That’s OK.

That’s the terror of knowing
What this world is about.
Watching some good friends screaming,
“Let me out!”

Tomorrow gets me higher.
Pressure on people, people on streets.

OK.

Chippin’ around, kick my brains ’round the floor.
These are the days: it never rains but it pours.

People on streets.
People on streets.

It’s the terror of knowing
What this world is about.
Watching some good friends screaming,
“Let me out!”

Tomorrow gets me higher, higher, high!
Pressure on people, people on streets.

Turned away from it all like a blind man.
Sat on a fence, but it don’t work.
Keep coming up with love, but it’s so slashed and torn.

Why, why, why!?

Love, love, love, love, love.

Insanity laughs under pressure.
We’re breaking.

Can’t we give ourselves one more chance?
Why can’t we give love that one more chance?
Why can’t we give love, give love, give love, give love, give love, give love, give love, give love, give love?

‘Cause love’s such an old-fashioned word,
And love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night,
And love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves.
This is our last dance.
This is our last dance.
This is ourselves.

Under pressure.
Under pressure.
Pressure.


Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey 
Gatewater Hotel, Viola Hall
March 20, 2018, 7:42 PM

The three of them had been invited to the Grand Prix by Will Powers, where there was some Hero of Heroes contest thing that the Nickel Samurai had won. Maya was pretty pumped about it, but the gaudiness of the hotel stole most of Phoenix’s concentration. The solid marble winding staircases were insane.

If the spirit medium hadn’t already called him Old Man more times in the past two years than most people had had hot dinners, the spiky-haired man still would have felt older than his 26 years as he watched his two wards, as he often thought of the Feys, racing about, like little hyperactive house apes, around the lobby of the prestigious hotel.

Well, his assistant’s cousin, who had been living with him and Maya full-time since the previous Christmas, he could overlook, seeing as how she was only a kid. However, watching the psychic zip to and fro around the press area, in a tiny lavender blur of acolyte robes, squealing excitedly as she did so, was making him positively dizzy!

Moreover, it was making him feel like an over-aged babysitter!

“Aren’t you nearly 20?” Phoenix asked grumpily, knowing he probably seemed every bit like the stuffy, wearied caregiver he was feeling at the moment, what with being forced to be responsible and dignified while the children played. “Must you act your shoe size every time I’m dragged to one of these ridiculous kiddy program events of yours?!”

His assistant ignored him. The winning of the Hero of Heroes Grand Prix by the Nickel Samurai had her positively giddy with excitement, despite Phoenix’s apathy. Powers was filled with pride that The Nickel Samurai was “doing the series justice.”  The child was filled with confusion, asking if the person everyone was cheering for had won, and Maya informed her that he had.

Pearl revealed that she watched Kids’ Masterpiece Theatre rather than The Nickel Samurai, and an aghast Maya tried to persuade her to change those plans post-haste insisting the Steel Samurai’s successor was all the rage with the kids.

“Do you like The Nickel Samurai too, Mr. Nick?” The little spirit medium asked him.

“Nah, Nick’s an old fart,” the plucky diviner giggled, nudging her employer in the ribs and smirking when he scowled at her. “So he’s not allowed to watch it anymore.”

And there she goes again.

The blue attorney sighed to himself, trying to ignore the unwelcome ardor in his chest.  For every time he was certain his underling actually may have felt even the slightest stirrings for him beyond mere friendship, and he came thisclose to confessing his feelings, she went and acted the way she was right now, and his gumption went right out the window. It’d been two years now since he’d met Maya Fey, and even though she was  19 now and would be out of her teens in a month, the immaturity had stubbornly lingered. Alas, his romantic interest still had the mentality of an overgrown kid; one who persisted in loving children’s shows like The Steel Samurai and The Nickel Samurai!

Nevertheless, the fact remained that she had been around him for too long. He realized he could never un-see her as a young woman now – even if he hadn’t accidentally spotted her dashing from the bathroom that one the previous summer in nothing but her towel! Despite his best efforts to forget his unwitting peep show, the scorching image was permanently imprinted in his brain. He could no longer ignore the fact that nature had blossomed Maya into a grown young woman, amid all the cases and annoyance and burgers, at least physically!

Phoenix had begun to have suspicions about his changing feelings the year previously, after defending the diviner on her second murder trial and he’d hated himself ever since. Against his better judgment, he’s somehow managed to develop a tendre for his former boss Mia’s baby sister! The unwelcome scenario was not only jarring to his senses but it made him feel like a perverse lecher of sorts, to boot. He was too damn old for such a ridiculous crush, not to mention Maya herself!

He tried to cheer himself up somewhat. 

Well, technically, since the woman-child of my affections in question is of universal legal age, I’m hardly a pedophile, but I am still seven years older than her! And it doesn’t help that she calls me an old fart most of the time!

“That’s right.” The defense attorney plastered on a grin through gritted teeth at his employee’s familiar, albeit irksome, quip. “But I do like Kids’ Masterpiece Theatre.”

“Hey, I didn’t know you were so young at heart, Nick!” Maya smirked.

“Mr. Nick! You’re a grown-up!” The little girl scolded. “You’re not allowed to watch it anymore! You’re supposed to act your age and have interests that match.” She gestured to her cousin and then back at the lawyer again, a frown of disapproval marring her doll-like features. “It’s very important!”

To his surprise, a rosy calescence slowly began creeping over the teen’s face and neck as she attempted to shoo away their pint-size shipper’s command.

“Aw, give it a rest, Pearly!”

Holy Shiitake Mushrooms, it’s a good thing Maya nipped that one in the bud! Phoenix had noticed his cheeks had gotten warmer as well, which was customary whenever Pearl began her Special Someones spiel. I was starting to sweat like a four-balled monkey!

Apparently, he’d looked a bit too relieved at the reprieve for the tenacious tot’s liking.

“Mr. Nick, aren’t you happy?” Demanded Pearl, intruding on his thoughts. She was wearing that familiar admonishing look on her face again.

Crap on a spatula! Please, stop! He braced himself for impact. Why must I always be on the receiving end of a glare…from one so young…?

The pretzel-haired spirit medium reached up and gave him a slap that stung like an army of attacking wasps. Her hidden strength, which belied her tiny stature, was quite brutal.

You should be happy because Mystic Maya is happy!”

“Oww!” Phoenix squawked, clutching his abused cheek. “I am ecstatically jubilant! I swear I am!”

The intercom suddenly crackled into life, saving the defense attorney from any further infantile battery.

“Attention. Attention everybody. The Nickel Samurai’s Post-Ceremony stage show set for tonight has been canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. We have a special request from the police: everyone must stay where they are. Deepest apologies for the inconvenience and we thank you for your cooperation.”

Maya’s jaw dropped to her chest.

“Whaaat!? Whyyyyy!?”

Her shocked indignation resulted in her reaching over and pinching her boss on his forearm. Hard.

“Oww!” He glared at his assailant and rubbed the tender spot where her talons had dug in. “You didn’t have to pinch me! Pinch yourself if you don’t believe it!”

Son of a motherless goat! What is it with Fey girls assaulting me?! 

The voice on the speaker went on to advise everyone to stay put … by order of the police.

The police? The King of the Turnabout’s legal senses went on a high alert then. Oh man, this can’t be good… 

The necromancer was nearly hyperventilating, she was so distraught.

WHAAAT?!” She shrieked, grabbing his arms and shaking him. “Is this – this can’t be happening! The Nickel Samurai! The post-ceremony –”

“Hey, don’t punish me for this!” Phoenix exclaimed, wrestling himself out of her grip and nearly falling into Powers, who was sincerely apologetic about having wasted their time.

Slappin’ Salamanders, Will, are you serious? This trip wasn’t an exercise in futility at all! My assistant, the walking bottomless pit, gorged on enough food at the opulent buffet to feed a small third-world nation, so that alone had made the trek worth the while – at least for me! It means she’ll be tided over enough so I probably need to only buy her one or two burgers afterward, instead of the usual half dozen!

When he had joked about her gluttony that night, Maya had insisted she was a “growing girl”, which had filled him with no small amount of alarm. After all, didn’t girls stop growing vertically… when they were 18?!

A growing girl? Exactly how big do you plan on getting…?!

He began to mosy out of the lobby, shouldering past groups of confused people who had clustered in the middle of the huge room. Phoenix faced a dilemma: he couldn’t just stand around here being useless, could he? He had to fulfill his role as a nosy lawyer, even when off-duty.

What if there had been a murder most foul?

They poked their heads around the hotel, running into the ever-Edgeworth-obsessive, über crotchety, unstoppable windbag that was Wendy Oldbag, as well as checking out the hallways of the two actor’s dressing rooms, Matt Engarde and Juan Corrida, strewn with stuffed bears and flowers.

The lawyer couldn’t help but lament that it’d have been nice to have gotten just a single lousy bouquet at some point from at least one of his grateful clients. Was it honestly so difficult to send him some flowers with a simple card? Something along with the likes of: “Thanks for saving my life – literally!”

Wouldn’t it be nice indeed… 

As the trio came back to Viola Hall, they were stopped in their tracks when a tall, thin man stepped right into their path. All quixotic thoughts of his assistant were erased from the blue attorney’s brain as he stared at this hotel employee, who so incredibly, stereotypically resembled a proverbial hotel bellboy, it was all he could do not to take a picture. But it wasn’t just that: not even the man’s classy monocle could take away from the line of stitches, neatly dividing his face in half from forehead to chin.

Woah.” The spirit medium’s mouth fell open. “Mister – Mister Bellboy, sir? Can I try your monocle on?!”

Phoenix nearly facepalmed with embarrassment.  

Why do I like her again, exactly?!

“Would you be Ms. Maya Fey?” The bellboy asked, thankfully ignoring the question.

“Um, yes.”

The raven-haired girl looked startled. Phoenix was, too.

How the name of Donald Trump’s toupée does this guy know her name?

“There is a phone call waiting for you at the front desk,” said the bellboy. “Please come with me.”

Maya frowned, tapping her chin in contemplation.

“I wonder who it is? Someone from Kurain Village?” She glanced back at Phoenix and Pearl. “I’ll be right back. Go on ahead, okay?”



If I had known what was to happen…I never would have let her out of my sight…


Maya Fey
Date: ??? Time:???  Location: ???   

 

“Nnngh…” Maya moaned, rubbing her skull, which felt tender to the touch. “Oww, my head…”

The cranium agony was relentless – she was its prisoner, quite helpless in her cage of pain, which was throbbing so violently around her skull that she wondered why it didn’t just crack open.

She’d just woken up with a mouth feeling as dry as cotton balls, an excruciating, agonized ache in her head that rivaled anything she’d ever felt before, (including the time Morgan had walloped her with the spirit-severing stick the previous year), and a general feeling of bewilderment. She had no idea where she was, as she was in some sort of darkened room, and didn’t recognize her surroundings. Was she still at the Gatewater? What had happened to her?

“Nick….Pearly!” She called weakly, as loud as she could with her parched throat. A feeling of dread crept over her. Was this some sort of joke? Because if it was, it wasn’t funny anymore…

Suddenly there was a click of the door unlocking, and then she was face to face with the stitched-face bellboy from the hotel, who regarded her with unreadable eyes. When he finally spoke, his voice was as cool as a cucumber.

“I see you have awoken.”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Maya’s eyes widened in fear. “Wh-Wh-Wh-Who are you!?”

In this dimly lit room, even with the monocle and black suit, the man no longer looked distinguished; with the red glare lighting, he now actually looked downright demonic.

“Me?” He answered calmly, completely unaffected by her scream. “…I am known as “De Killer”.

“D-De Killer!? You mean like an assassin!?”

A million thoughts raced through her mind in the next split second.

What in the s’mores on a hamburger fuck is this shit now?!  My sweet little Pearly! Who’s going to look after her?! After Nick?! I promised Sis I would take care of him! 

Knuckle-cracking kringles on a bullet train with a sock full of ketchup-covered cheese logs! What am I going to do?

…Wah! I… I’m too young to go! I’m going to die a freakin’ virgin! This is simultaneously more sucky and lame than a vegan burger! I mean, I haven’t even kissed a guy yet! The only upside is that those who are of hymenally challenged, unsullied status are also at increased survival odds in all the horror movies, right?!

De Killer coolly advised her not to fret, that she wasn’t his intended target, but the diviner was beyond being reasoned with at the moment. She continued to cry out for Nick to help her, all the while internally praying to whatever forces were listening, to spare her life.

“Yes, that’s right,” he replied, still unruffled when her shrieks at last subsided. “Only one person can save you now, and that is Mr. Phoenix Wright.”

“Wh-What?” Stunned, the psychic managed to muffle another scream and speak in a somewhat normal tone. “Nick… Nick’s going to save   me…?”

A glimmer of hope flickered through her. Nick … was her hero.  Yes, he would save her, just as he always had in the past…

The hitman succinctly instructed her to calm down and be a good girl, that it was all part of a business transaction, and that she’d be wise to play her assigned cooperative role while he contacted her boss.

The spirit medium shrank back in horror.  How in the world was a kidnapping anything like giving away money in exchange for something else? She saw no reason to trust this insane murderer whatsoever and was certain her life was going to come to a halt soon enough, regardless of his words. The formality of this man was almost staggering considering the situation, but Maya guessed that when you murdered people for a living, kidnapping was like a commercial transaction.

That petrifying reality of it all though, she realized, was that ultimately, the ends justified the means in the name of monetary gain for this horrible, evil man. She was nothing more than a pawn to be used for business matters. She was nothing more than a cash bag; he didn’t see her as a person. He didn’t care that she had a little girl whom she had to now raise and was dependent on her, or that she was the office manager to a dear man, who’d come to lean on her as much as she’d come to lean on him. She was the most trivial matter of total insignificance in this dark and deadly game.

Her heart hammered against her ribs as tears of terror filled her eyes.

“Nick…” She whispered helplessly, curling into a call, and hugging her knees protectively against her chest. “What’s going to happen to me? Nick…Pearls…Sis…”

Her last heartrending thought resounded through her mind over and over again like a broken record as her tears rolled silently down her cheeks.

I never got a chance to tell Nick how much he means to me.


Phoenix Wright and Pearl Fey
Gatewater Hotel
March 20, 2018

Phoenix and Pearl busied themselves for the next little bit with investigations, finding some details of the homicide via the always irksome, meddlesome, downright annoying jer-na-list, aka “that woman with the big puffy hair that looks like cotton candy” as the little spirit medium called her, Lotta Hart.

The Southerner’s information was then further relayed and confirmed by the overly chatty Detective Gumshoe.

The Jammin’ Ninja had been murdered and his rival, The Nickle Samurai was the suspect.

It was all as ugly as he could have imagined.

The lawyer sighed in resignation and turned to the suddenly pensive-looking child beside him.

“Maya’s definitely going to make me take this case, isn’t she?”

“If The Nickel Samurai’s involved?! Of course!” Pearl bit her thumb. “But, Mr. Nick, are phone calls supposed to take this long?”

“Hah!” Phoenix glanced at his watch. “You’re right! What’s taking her so long? Maybe we should look for her back in the lobby. We’ve got all the information we need anyway.”

“D – Do you think she got lost, Mr. Nick?” Pearl asked worriedly, hurrying ahead down the hallway.

“Wouldn’t put it past her,” Phoenix muttered to himself.

I seriously wish Maya would get lost – from my damn mind!

But as he regarded the little girl’s concerned expression, he tried and failed, to squelch his own sudden feeling of unease. After all, his friend had just gone to take a phone call…

Anxiously, he scurried to the hotel foyer, Pearl having to jog slightly on her little legs to keep up with his long, urgent strides.

However, once they got to the lobby – full of murmuring as people wandered about, unsure of what was happening – Maya wasn’t there. Powers waved them over from near the stage, a radio transceiver in one of his large hands.

Phoenix relayed the information he’d learned to his friend, with the current children’s exercise program star remarking that if anything, as Matt Engarde kept his trumping his rival in popularity, one would have thought that Juan Corrida would have murdered him, not vice versa!

As he was absorbing this newest fact, which now further confused him as the circumstances made even lesser sense, he felt Pearl tugging at his sleeve.

“Mr. Nick, what’s that thing he’s holding?” She asked. Phoenix’s sights dropped to the transceiver in Powers’ hand. It kinda, sorta …but no, not really looked like a mobile phone of sorts to his non-techy eyes.

“Oh!” Exclaimed Powers, overhearing this. “Sorry, I forgot about it. This whole murder thing completely distracted me. This is meant for you.”

“For me?!” Phoenix took the device, which was a fair weight in his hand. “Who was it from?”

“The bellboy. You know, the one with stitches all the way down the centre of his face…” Powers shivered. “It’s scary!”

And this is coming from a man who always looks like a hungry lion!

“The bellboy…?” The lawyer didn’t have much time to think it over, as the transceiver suddenly began to beep. Unsure of what to do, he raised it to his mouth.

“…Hello?”

“Is this the attorney, Mr. Phoenix Wright, speaking?”

It seemed he was now connected.

Bravo, Phoenix! An exemplary example of your top-notch deduction skills – honed to perfection from years of artful investigations!

“Yes. And who are you?!”

“You don’t need to know who I am. You have much more important things to worry about, don’t you?”

Suddenly, there was a scream on the other end, which sent ice shooting down the back of Phoenix’s neck.

“H – HEEELP! NICK!”

“M – Maya?” Phoenix’s brain seemed to have stopped working. Surely this was all a bad dream. Surely this wasn’t –

” – A kidnapping, Mr. Attorney. So if you want to see the girl again, you had better listen closely.”

Phoenix almost dropped the transceiver.

“Maya! Are you alright?! Are you hurt?! Where are you?”

He suddenly felt very faint. Beside him, Pearl had started crying.

“M – Mystic Maya…?” The child whispered haplessly, tears rolling down her cherubic cheeks. “W – what’s happening, Mr. Nick?!” Her lower lip began to tremble, and soon she was bawling her eyes out. “Mystic Mayaaaaaaa!”

The world seemed to be fading before Phoenix’s eyes. His breathing was shallow, and he didn’t think he would be able to stand for much longer.

“What…have you done with her?!” He managed to say.

“…Good. Now that I have your attention, Mr. Attorney…it is a very simple proposal. In exchange, I will return to you…your precious ‘item’.”

He swayed on his feet, clutching at the transceiver as though his life depended on it.

“…Mr. Attorney, are you there?”

“H – How much?!” Demanded Phoenix, managing to snap out of it. He was going to fall unconscious in a moment, and then what would happen? “How much do you want?! Just say it, hurry up!”

“That’s much better, Mr. Attorney, however, it is not money I need. You are an attorney, no? You must become Matt Engarde’s lawyer. He did not kill anyone,” the voice continued. “I can attest to that: he has been framed. All I simply ask is that you earn him a complete acquittal…in two days. One court trial.”

“W- What?! Where’s Maya?! What have you done to –?”

“She is fine, Mr. Attorney…at the moment. Failure to comply, however, and…”

The unspoken threat hung silently in the frigid air.

“Who – who are you?!” Phoenix asked desperately. The silence on the other end went on for so long he was afraid the connection would be cut.

“I suppose I can tell you that much. I am De Killer.”

“What –”

“Two days, Mr. Attorney.”

Click. The signal went dead.

The defense attorney’s insides went numb and a vacant, glazed expression came over his eyes. He was no longer capable of either thinking or feeling. At that moment, he turned into nothing more than a mere shell of himself.

Until he knew Maya was safe and sound, Phoenix Wright would remain naught but a dead man walking.


Phoenix Wright and Pearl Fey
Wright & Co. Law Offices
March 21, 2018

 

Pearl was beyond inconsolable about her beloved cousin and only managed to not fall completely to pieces under the gentle, kind guidance of Gumshoe, who had escorted her and Phoenix back to their place, where the burly detective had remained at the child’s side, not leaving until she’d at last fallen into an uneasy sleep in her and Maya’s bed.

However, as the drained defense attorney looked at the shadows under her eyes that morning, it was apparent that like himself, Pearl had barely slept a wink either. As he hurriedly fixed them some breakfast – a complete exercise in futility as neither of them had any appetite to speak of – Phoenix had to keep reminding himself to take deep breaths and keep himself calm and collected, if only for the sake of the small, helpless, little girl, who looked as morose and lost as he felt.

He didn’t even know what to say to her. Everything he said came out wrong and just made things worse for the terrified child, who professed to him that without Maya, she truly had no family left in the world.

“Pearls why are you so interested in how Maya and I get along?” Phoenix asked, eager to change topics now, as he’d barely been able to swallow the lump in his throat at the tragic news of her otherwise orphaned status. “I mean we don’t have anything special…?”

“What do you mean?” She looked stunned. “But I thought you and mystic Maya were… I’ve been mistaken all this time?! No way!” She looked downcast then and hung her head, the picturesque vision of heartbroken dejection.

Aaaah! She really wasn’t kidding! Pearls legit believes that Maya and I are…maybe I should have just left it alone!  Phoenix berated himself for his thoughtless stupidity and mentally called himself every name in the book for upsetting the little girl he had come to adore.  What the hell is wrong with me!? Why did I even say that? I know Maya and I aren’t anything official on paper… but…

“Mr. Nick! Stop it!” Pearls suddenly snapped, completely out of the blue, unexpectedly breaking out of her funk. “Don’t hide your true feelings from me!”

With that, she rolled up her sleeve and aimed.

Ow! She slapped me! Again!

The smarting sensation would have brought any other man in this current state of precarious, emotional affairs to tears, but he managed to resist somehow. Mostly because deep down, he knew Pearl was 100% right. Also, he didn’t know who he was kidding anymore, denying how he felt about his underling. Or why he even bothered. He was fooling no one. Especially not himself.

After all, De Killer was able to determine exactly which person to kidnap to ensure my complete cooperation. Obviously, he sensed some sort of strong bond between us – and perceived it as her being more than just my ‘legal assistant’, and it’s become obvious even to the outside world…  

The number one reason, however, that Phoenix hadn’t allowed himself to cry, even though he yearned to do so more than anything, was because Pearl had done enough of that for both of them. She alternated between completely distraught misery, and total self-blame for the whole situation, as she’d not accompanied Maya on her phone call, despite his vain efforts to dissuade such notions.

Also, he was afraid if he started to cry, he’d never stop.

The only way to keep from wallowing was keeping busy, so they’d ensured their day was as jam-packed with as much progressive, productive investigation as possible.

It’d been the mother of all draining days.

They’d gone to see the self-enamored, flaky, and “refreshing like a spring breeze” defendant, Matt Engarde, in prison. He’d not set off any psyche locks when Phoenix had flat-out asked him if he’d killed Juan Corrida.

The actor had blithely replied: “Alright just so we’re clear, dude I didn’t kill anyone and that includes Juan Corrida OK?”

So Phoenix had felt better about taking his case now, ensuring himself that he could fight to get the pretty boy a not-guilty verdict with a clear conscience.

He and Pearl had gone back to investigate further at the Gatewater Hotel after that. They had yet another series of mixed unpleasant and pleasant encounters with the annoying Oldbag (and her prized ray gun), the loud-mouthed Lotta Hart, the evasive Adrian Andrews, the gossip-gabbing Will Powers, the ever-helpful Gumshoe, and the enraged, whip-happy, revenge-obsessed (for breaking her perfect prosecution record), Franziska Von Karma.

And then there had been another moment where Phoenix had had to draw upon all his inner strength not to break down in front of Pearl again as they went through Viola Hall.

The pocket-sized psychic had been more mum than usual up until that point, walking by his side with a haunted look on her angelic face, until her solemn eyes riveted to the familiar front table in the chandeliered room they’d all dined in the night before.

“We ate at this table last night, didn’t we?” She asked quietly, with an expression more melancholic than any little girl should ever be allowed to have.

“Yes.” Phoenix nodded, sighing at the memory of that carefree evening, which now seemed like eons ago.

“I was really happy then,” Pearl said wistfully, looking down at the ground to avoid letting him see the tears filling her eyes.

I wish I could make you smile again… Even for a second.

As the thought entered his mind, at that moment, Phoenix Wright felt a wave of such powerful, protective, paternal love that it startled him. He reacted without thinking and allowed his hollowed heart to embrace the first emotion he’d permitted himself to feel since this nightmare had begun, along with the tiny spirit medium that had triggered it.

Pulling Pearl into his arms in a tight, comforting hug, Phoenix held her small, frail body against him, murmuring words of reassurance to her, as at last, a lone tear escaped from his eye and rolled down his cheek.

He’d promised this child, his sole remaining tie to both Mia and Maya Fey, that he was going to save her cousin. It was one he vowed that he was going to keep – no matter what it took.

Sometimes, it’s not on the battlefield where truth and courage only show. You can win in any place with the help of your courage and determination.


 Later that evening…

 Phoenix Wright and Pearl Fey
Police Station, Criminal Affairs Department
March 21, 2018

 

Phoenix and Pearl met with Gumshoe at the police station, and for once, the kindhearted detective was quite grim.

It turned out the knife in Corrida’s chest had Engarde’s fingerprints all over it.

Phoenix gulped. This wasn’t looking good at all for getting his client that not-guilty verdict! If anything, Engarde was looking guiltier by the minute!

Gumshoe was just telling Phoenix about Corrida’s former manager, Celeste, when suddenly, they were rudely interrupted by Lady Von Whippingburg herself! Furious at catching Gumshoe in the act of “leaking” information, Franziska curtly fired the poor man on the spot, ignoring his pleas.

“Quiet!” The German woman snapped, cracking her whip until the newly jobless detective had fled in terror.  She glowered at Phoenix and pointed an accusing black-gloved finger at him. “If it weren’t for traitors like you…”

“I would’ve won.” A smooth – and very familiar! – voice intoned just then. “Is that what you want to say?”

Franziska’s eyes narrowed. “Wh-Who!?”

That voice… Phoenix felt his mouth go dry. No, it can’t be! Pearl isn’t able to channel male ghosts just yet, is she?

It was no ghost. Suddenly, there before them, larger than life, in full living magenta color, stood the one, the only, Miles Edgeworth himself.

Back from the dead.  


Under Pressure – Queen & David Bowie


 

 

 

 

 

 

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Turnabout Everlasting Copyright © by JordanPhoenix. All Rights Reserved.

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