Hey guys, I'm PatillianAdventures, and I am writing this with my good friend Universal Lord Genghis Khan. We have been friends since the beginning of high school, and one of the many things we have in common is that we like to write about things, especially our favorite games and such in Fanfiction. After deciding to begin our Fanfiction careers, we decided to experiment and see how a story written by the both of us would fare. It's been a fun collaboration, and any feedback you could give us would be wonderful! So thank you for reading and we hope you enjoy our story: Pompeii.
Ch 1: Eruption
Exhilarated, Phoenix, Apollo, and Athena burst through the doors of the courtroom; another case well won. Apollo, still riding on the adrenaline, engaged in a hearty high-five with a Athena, who winced slightly when the booming clap amplified in her sensitive ears. Nevertheless, she grinned from ear to ear, sharing in the elation buzzing amongst her comrades, and blushed ever so slightly when she met Apollo's gaze. It had not been an easy case. Phoenix had slogged through unforgiving evidence, straining himself to find the miniscule, yet crucially existent inconsistencies. Everyone had given it their all. Athena had tirelessly analyzed trace emotions in testimonies, all the while encouraging and motivating her teammates to keep going. Apollo's signature hairdo was a bit frazzled from anxiously stroking back onto his head while scrutinizing witness for the truth. Phoenix looked even worse for the wear. Though today was no exception to his legendary powers of deduction and reasoning, the energy it had sapped from him became more apparent as the rush wore off. Through his smile, Athena detected faint circles under his eyes and a sag in his shoulders. She didn't need a mood matrix to determine that Phoenix needed a break. Heck, they all did. Yet, tired though they were, the energy was contagious.
"Well done everyone, well done!" the defense attorney commended them, "You both really showed your true colors in there, I couldn't be prouder!"
"Thank you, sir!" Athena chirped.
"You really are mastering your talents! Athena, nice catch. I would never have thought that his ambiguous feelings could be used to prove his innocence like that, you saw something in his testimony that no one else did!"
"Oh, it was nothing, everyone just assumed he was guilty because he wasn't disclosing all his emotions, but with a little thought, anyone could have seen his just motives!" His peppy assistant beamed, attempting humility. She knew they all shared credit for winning this case, but secretly, she was extremely proud of herself, and glad to have been useful to her team. Her eyes darted briefly at her partner, hoping for a nod of approval, but his attention was turned to Phoenix.
"Oh and Apollo, thanks for saving me back there. That one little lie you found, it seemed so inconspicuous and unnoteworthy, but yet you saw the deeper darkness behind it, and it lead us to the truth. Your assistance was invaluable today."
"Of course sir, anytime, just doing my job." Apollo smiled graciously, politely nodding his head. He similarly glanced at Athena, who was already looking at him expectantly. She flashed him a warm smile of approval, which he returned. Feeling his cheeks growing dangerously warm, he deflected his gaze to the pavement, hoping Phoenix would assume the chilly fall air to be the culprit of the pinkness in his face.
Athena returned her mind to the issue of Phoenix's fatigue from the temporary high of being praised. Suddenly, she was struck with a marvelous idea.
"Hey, I have an idea," she turned to them excitedly, "let's try out that new restaurant downtown to celebrate! We all did such a great job today, I think it deserves a nice toast and a relaxing evening!" Phoenix mulled over the idea in his head, deciding, then slowly smiling and nodding in agreement.
"You know what? I think that's a wonderful idea, Athena. We could all use a nice meal, what do you think, Apollo?"
"Yeah!" Apollo blurted hungrily, "I'm in; I'm starved!"
"Yay, then it's decided," Athena bounded cheerfully down the steps onto the sidewalk, "let's go to Luigi's Bistro!"
Their walk to the downtown plaza was a pleasant one, the shafts of sunset dancing around them matching the hues in Athena's hair, which bobbed and bounced as she talked. Seemingly the only one with enough energy left to carry the conversation, Apollo and Phoenix let her do most of the talking, the former chiming in more than the latter. Skipping a few paces ahead of them, Athena had to stop and croon at every dog they passed, stroking their fluffy heads and scratching behind their ears. The other two strolled not far behind, taking in the chilly afternoon, occasionally commenting on Athena's antics and quietly laughing.
"Hey, look, we're almost there!" She pointed an excited finger. She pulled her fists to her chest, stood on tiptoe, and sniffed the savoury scents wafting through the air.
"Mmm…" she said finally, "It smells deee-licous! I can't wait! I wanna try EVERYTHING!"
"I don't doubt that she will," Apollo whispered to his companion, "while decimating our wallets at the same time."
"I'm sure most of our money will be spent on expensive orange juices for her" Phoenix winked.
-Universal Lord Genghis Khan-
The trio walked into the restaurant with only one thing on their mind: Food. They waited at the front of the restaurant in the waiting area for about 2 minutes and then they were approached by a host.
"Hello sir, How many are with you?" asked the host.
"Party of three," responded Phoenix.
"I believe there is a table open right now. This way please," directed the host.
After saying their thanks, the three attorneys made their way to the table amongst the din of several others in the restaurant. The intricate paintings that covered the walls made it seem like Italy had somehow transposed itself into the restaurant. Phoenix couldn't help but admire the scenes of the canals in Venice, the Colosseum in Rome, and the vineyards of Lazio. Apollo was taken aback by the popularity of the restaurant, which had just opened 6 weeks ago, and he himself couldn't wait for the sensation of great tasting food in his mouth. Athena took in the entire atmosphere and remembered her trips to Italy when she lived in Europe. She took in the traditional Italian music and it only brought back good memories.
The three attorneys sat down at the table and a waiter approached them and handed out menus to all three attorneys.
"Good evening," he began. "Thank you for coming to Luigi's Bistro today! Are there any beverages you would like to order at this time?"
"I'll take a glass of water" replied Apollo.
"Orange juice, please" Athena responded.
"I'll have grape juice if possible" answered Phoenix.
"Oh good choice sir!" the waiter exclaimed. "Our grape juice is a specialty, directly imported from the Italian vineyards. I'll be back soon to take your order," he finished, before sauntering off to the kitchen.
"Still grape juice Mr. Wright?" inquired Apollo.
"Yep. It's kind of hard to buck a seven year habit, Apollo," Phoenix stated.
"Hey what are you guys going to get?" Athena asked cheerily.
Phoenix and Apollo had completely forgotten about the menus in front of them and immediately picked them up and began to read from them. To Phoenix, there were so many options. Should he get a personal pizza? Should he go for a calzone? What about the pasta? After so much indecision, Phoenix decided to go with a three-cheese calzone and asked for a little extra meat when the waiter came by to take their order.
On the other hand, Apollo had no trouble picking what he wanted. He headed straight for the pasta page in the menu and began to peruse the several choices there were. After looking over them, he decided to go with the Tagliarini Picchi Pacchiu and couldn't wait to sample a little piece of Italy. Athena decided on having the classic spaghetti without any meatballs. Apollo was a bit incredulous about her choice, but respected her decision. After all they had been through on this case, food choices were not important right now.
While the food was being prepared, Phoenix was beginning to grow bored very quickly. Apollo, however, had brought something that would relieve the boredom.
"Hey, anyone want to play a bit of poker?" Apollo asked.
"I haven't played in a while, but why not. Prepare to lose" Phoenix chimed in.
"I don't think that'll be happening Mr. Wright. You're going down" Athena interrupted.
"Alright then, loser pays the bill for tonight's meal," Phoenix added.
Apollo dealt the cards to each respective player and acted as the dealer for the round. He looked in his hand and found the nine of spades, ten of diamonds, ace of spades, four of hearts, and the nine of hearts. He had two options to choose from, either to go for a flush in either hearts or spades or to try and acquire the other two nines. Apollo chose to drop his ten and 4, going with the pair of nines and keeping his ace for any tiebreakers. He picked up the five of spades and the king of spades. At this point, he really wished he had dropped his nine, but at least a highish pair was better than nothing.
Meanwhile, Phoenix found himself with the ace of hearts, king of hearts, four of diamonds, two of spades and ten of diamonds. He had a junk hand, but the ace and king of hearts looked promising for the future. He wished Trucy was by his side so he could see what type of hands Apollo and Athena had. Then he would win for sure. He dropped all but his ace and king and picked up the ten of spades, three of clubs, and the nine of diamonds. Junk. Phoenix knew that unless either Athena or Apollo also got junk, he was doomed to pay the dinner bill.
Athena had the seven of diamonds, the queen of diamonds, the two of diamonds, the jack of clubs, and the king of clubs. She found herself torn on whether to go for the straight or the flush and decided to go for the former, boldly releasing the king and jack from her hand. She received the six and four….. of spades. Total junk and now the queen was her highest card. Hopefully, somebody else was in a very troubling situation.
The three attorneys threw down their hands and Apollo celebrated with a fist pump as he had won the hand. Phoenix breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his ace beat out Athena's queen. Dinner was on Athena. As soon as the poker game finished, the server arrived with the meals and the three attorneys began to chow down. Feeling the explosion of flavor in their mouths, they all knew that the choice of restaurant could not be more perfect. The three ate their food with gusto and with their stomachs slowly filling, they celebrated their well-earned victory.
-PatillianAdventures-
Phoenix leaned back in his chair, the ache of an empty stomach satiated at last. He was very comfortable, not too full, and not too hungry, a balance difficult to strike in a restaurant with food as scrumptious as Luigi's Bistro. He glanced sleepily at his companions. They were responding well to each other, and seemed to be deep in some enjoyable conversation. Apollo lounged facing Athena with one arm hanging lazily on the back of his chair, using the other arm to gesture as he spoke. Athena, effervescent as always, bounced and wobbled enthusiastically in her chair, hands returning occasionally to her lap when she listened to Apollo. They went back in forth like this for a while, though Phoenix couldn't hear what about over the buzzing ambiance.
I wonder what would happen if I pretended to fall asleep...what would they do if they thought if I wasn't paying attention? he mused to himself. After all, he was feeling rather drowsy, especially after the warm meal. He needed to shut his eyes, and a feigned nap at this point would be extremely believable to them. The court case today had been especially draining, and he knew that he looked tired.
Chuckling to himself, he decided that he would find out. He enjoyed watching their interactions, himself familiar with what it was like to have budding emotions. He clasped his hands behind his head and slowly let his figure slump into a more relaxed position. Slyly, he peaked occasionally to observe the discourse between them.
"Apollo, look! I think Phoenix is falling asleep…" Athena whispered.
"I don't blame him, we all worked very hard today, him especially. I think I'll be crashing too as soon as we return home!" Apollo agreed.
"Me too, but not now, I feel too awake! I love going downtown, everything is so alive and social. I like the music they play in the Bistro too. What's your favorite kind of music?"
"Oh," he shrugged, "I like music from all genres, but metal and rock are probably my favorites. My chords of steel are perfect for it. Marilyn Manson's got nothing on me!"
"You're so vain…" Athena playfully rolled her eyes, "sing something for me then, if you're so good." She challenged.
"Oh no, I couldn't, not now, there are too many people around." Apollo tugged at the collar of his shirt. Why did he say that? Out of all the things he could have blurted, why had he put that out there? He should have known Athena would have taken it. Oh well, it couldn't be taken back now…
"Why... are you scared?" Athena flashed her eyebrows dangerously.
"N-no I just don't want to disturb the atmosphere…people are enjoying themselves" he tried to deflect it, unfortunately, to no avail. His rushed reluctance only fueled Athena's teasing further.
"Oh-ho, you are scared...or maybe you're chords of steel just aren't what you say they are…" she dared to cross the line. Apollo's face puffed as red as his shirt. No one questioned the indisputable chords of steel. Not nobody, not no how.
"My chords of steel are LEGENDARY, thank you very much," Apollo retorted defensively, vein pulsing, "and, I shouldn't need to, but I'll PROVE it!" he slammed his fist on the table, "...quietly" he added quickly. Athena smirked.
"Ok, excellent. Sing a few verses from, ah... Bohemian Rhapsody then." She leaned forward, resting her head on her hands conceitedly.
"...fine." Apollo half-stood, looking down at the table. Sucking up his insecurities, he went for it before he could decide that he didn't want to. Giving it his all, he hit every note to the best of his ability, annunciating and curving his voice where appropriate. What was only a few verses lasted an excruciating eternity. Cautiously, he opened his eyes. Athena was smiling and clapping, and only a few tables seemed to have taken notice of his private performance. He exhaled a sigh of relief.
"Not bad, you've got good sound quality. Buuut…it's 'anyway the wind blows', not 'anyway the wind goes', silly." she chided. Yet, she couldn't completely hide her surprise; Apollo was a decent vocalist.
"Pfft, Whatever…" Apollo brushed it off, blushing. Athena giggled.
"You were pretty amazing in the courtroom today" she began after a brief pause, "I wish all attorneys were as adamant at seeking the truth as you are!"
"Thank you," Apollo stirred his drink with a straw, "it means a lot to me that you said that," he glanced at her with genuine appreciation, "I think its really cool that you can empathize with people on such a deep level. You always understand how people are feeling…"and I hope you understand how I feel about you.
"Oh, well," flustered, Athena brushed a stray auburn strand behind her ear, "I-I'm glad it's come in handy so many times."
All the while, it had taken every fiber of Phoenix's being not to react to the scene unfolding before him. Fearful he would be unable to take the amused laughter building inside him for much longer, he decided it was time to pretend to wake up. He stretched and stifled a yawn.
"Oh?" he feigned surprise, "oh, pardon me, I must have *yawn* dozed off," glancing intuitively between them, "did I miss something?"
"Oh no, Athena and I were just talking about the case today…"Apollo explained, nervously scratching the back of his head.
"And Apollo just demonstrated how not to sing Bohemian Rhapsody…" Athena mumbled.
"Shut up!" Apollo hissed.
"Ah, yes, the court case! I think the perfect way to end our celebration is with some desert," Phoenix declared, "I hope you two saved room for Lava Cake!"
As if on cue, two penguin-like servers presented each of them with a small lava cake, bubbling with still-warm chocolaty goodness.
"Yay!" Athena clapped, "oh thank you Mr. Wright, you're the best!"
Phoenix winked, "I just can't believe you're still hungry after all that food!"
"I can't believe you can eat so much and still have such a lovely figure…"Apollo mused to himself. His chest pocket vibrated, and curiously, he produced a small, blue phone.
"Excuse me for a minute, I need to take this" he got up from the table, "it's Trucy."
"Ok, see you in a few. Oh, waiter," Phoenix pointed out Athena's cake to the waiter, "I asked for the orange chocolate lava cake for her. Would you mind?"
"Of course! My apologies, sir," he paced the silver plate back onto his tray, "I'll have the correct order delivered immediately." With that, he waddled off to the kitchen.
The server didn't return immediately, several minutes passed, so Phoenix offered her some of his lava cake.
"Would you like a taste of mine," he motioned with his fork, "while you wait for yours to come? I feel bad that you're the only one without a desert, and our waiter doesn't seem to be in a hurry to return."
"Oh no, thank you," Athena held up her hand, "the orange chocolate lava cake sounds delicious; I want to save as much room as possible for it! Go ahead and begin without me, I don't mind. Besides, you worked the hardest out of all of us today, so you should get the first bite of cake, like at birthday parties!"
"Well, if you insist," he laughed, eagerly spooning off an edge of the spongy chocolate cake, dipping it generously into the molten center, "I wonder what's keeping Apollo? I hope everything's ok with Trucy. Wasn't she at a friend's house or something?"
"Yeah," Athena nodded, "she's sleeping over at Pearl's house tonight..." she trailed off, her hyper-sensitive hearing taking over her senses. Traces of a barely audible Apollo echoed in her sonar from across the restaurant, and she strained her hardest to filter out the superfluous noise.
"Athena?" Phoenix whispered, concerned, "What is it? Do you hear something?" She only held up a finger to shush him; his voice did nothing to help her isolate Apollo's. She had to focus.
She detect worrying tones of urgency and anxiety in his speech. He sounded distressed, but try as she might, Athena couldn't discern a cause over the hub of the other tables. It didn't sound like Trucy was calling from homesickness. Something was definitely wrong.
"I think something's very wrong," Athena added grimly, "he seems...upset. I think we'd better plan on leaving soon."
"Right," Phoenix motioned towards the waiter approaching with Athena's replacement cake, "sir, I'm sorry for all the requests, but could we get a box for that? We may need to be leaving soon, could I have the tab?"
"Of course sir, my apologies for the delay. The chef that was preparing the lava cakes has...departed for the evening, it would seem. However, I was able to seek out another who could prepare it for you. Enjoy! I will return shortly with a box and your tab."
"Thank you, I'm sorry we put you through that much trouble! Your dedication to your customers is admirable." Phoenix complimented.
"Of course! It has been a pleasure serving you, sir," the waiter beamed, tipping his hat in gratitude.
"Wow, all that trouble for a little cake...I wonder why the chef left so early? The dinner rush isn't even over yet!" Athena wondered aloud. Phoenix shrugged.
"Who knows? Maybe he needed a break as much as we do!," he light-heartedly presumed. The smile flickered briefly from his face as Apollo returned to the table, his expression somber. They gave him their full attention.
"Trucy just called, she said she forgot to pack her toothbrush for Pearl's house, but when she returned to the Agency to get it...she said it looked like someone had broken in. She's there all by herself, not sure what to do, and absolutely hysterical," having a hard time composing his worry, Apollo's voice cracked, "I need to go, immediately."
"Go quickly then, don't worry, Athena and I will take care of the tab" Phoenix nodded grimly, "we'll catch up with you as soon as we can."
"Right," Apollo turned to leave, "I'll be seeing you."
"Apollo?" Athena gently grabbed his shoulder.
"...yes?" gazes met.
"Um...be careful." Her eyes wandered sheepishly to the floor.
"I will." He whispered gently, patting her hand, smiling reassuringly. Returning to the matter at hand, Apollo continued his course out the door. The other two watched on pins and needles for their waiter. Precious seconds ticked by, and finally Phoenix checked his watch, raising his eyebrows, "what's keeping our waiter?"
He stood up from the table, like he was going to go straight to the host's desk and retrieve the tab himself, but he faltered. Steadying himself on the table, he gingerly massaged his temples and forehead with one large hand.
-Universal Lord Genghis Khan-
"Are you okay, boss?" asked a concerned Athena.
"Yeah I'm doing fine Athena. No need to worry about me," replied Phoenix, thinking that the fatigue from earlier was just beginning to catch up to him.
"Why don't you go home and check up on Apollo. I'll take care of things here," Athena recommended.
"Sure. I find out what's up with him and hopefully Trucy will be okay as well," Phoenix stated with a newfound burst of energy and state of urgency surrounding him. His daughter was one of the most valuable things in his life and there was nothing he wouldn't do to keep her safe. He walked out of the restaurant, leaving Athena all alone at the table. His walk was characterized by a growing sense of tiredness about him. He definitely needed to sleep, and soon. Each step became harder and harder to take, and it took the last of his willpower to reach the Wright Anything Agency. He opened the door and tried to call out to either Apollo or Trucy, but was unable to produce any words. After this, everything went black, and Phoenix collapsed.
Apollo raced to the door with Trucy following behind him. The magician had returned from Pearl's house with Apollo, and both were horrified by the sight they saw. Phoenix was crumpled on the floor in front of the door, but that was not the most alarming sight. He was having violent convulsions even while seemingly unconscious. Trucy rushed over to her father while Apollo ran to the phone and called the ambulance. He knew that Phoenix was not prone to seizures, so the only logical conclusion was that he had been poisoned. Apollo had seen the horrors of atroquinine before and hoped with all his heart that it was not in Phoenix's system. He also knew that convulsions could be caused by cyanide poisoning, fatal to anyone. An ambulance got there rapidly and began to administer antivenom and several other chemicals that broke down poisonous compounds.
Trucy cried and ran to Apollo as the ambulance headed to the hospital at full speed. Apollo embraced the young girl and let her cry it out. After all, he knew firsthand what it was like when someone important in his life died. He did not want to think about Clay Terran, the trial where he was severely injured by a bomb, how he didn't believe Athena and indicted her for murder, and especially how he opposed his mentor on the witness stand. Now was not the time to relive the past. He had to stay strong to support Trucy.
Before Phoenix reached the Agency, Athena waited alone at the table for the waiter. He walked to her, presented the bill, and walked away. The sun was setting outside and its fiery reds and oranges made it look like lava oozing from a volcano. Athena inserted the appropriate amount of cash and marvelled at the sunset around her. The waiter came back, picked up the tab, and thanked Athena for eating at the restaurant. Athena rose, exited the restaurant and began to walk back to the Wright Anything Agency. At this point, it was fairly dark outside and in the city, bad things always happened in the dark. Athena was very well aware of this fact and tried to stay away from shady places such as the numerous alleyways throughout the city. About halfway back to the Wright Anything Agency, she heard a noise in the alley to her left and began to pick up her walking pace. But that did not help as an unseen assailant grabbed her arms and deftly held them in place with great strength. Athena began to flail and just as she was about to scream for help, the assailant covered her mouth. He finished the bindings on her hands while somehow evading her kicks. Athena then felt her mouth get taped and felt a sack go over her head to conceal her sight. Her special sense of hearing, however remain unblocked and she heard the glee of her attacker as he hoisted her over his shoulder, threw in her in the back of some car and sped off to some unknown destination.
Apollo was consoling Trucy when his cell phone rang. He left Trucy's side to take the call only to realize that it was from an unknown number.
"Apollo Justice" Apollo stated affirmatively.
"Good. Good. Mr Justice, we have a few things to talk about," stated a mysterious voice that was altered beyond recognition.
"Who are you?" Apollo questioned.
"Now now. Let's not get to that yet. First, I have heard you are a man of reason so listen carefully. I have heard that your mentor Phoenix Wright is currently in the hospital and that you made the call to save him. How heroic" the voice continued.
"It's not like I'm just going to let him suffer and die" Apollo angrily retorted.
"But deep down inside, you despise him, Mr. Justice. He presented you forged evidence that let you win your first trial. He inhibited you from properly investigating Clay's murder. He is the one who steals the limelight from you. He is holding you back from becoming the greatest lawyer in the history of the United States. This is my ultimatum. You convince the hospital to stop all processes to keep him alive or else your princess dies. Choose wisely, Mr. Justice. After all you, only have 72 hours to do so," the voice commanded, laughing evilly at the end of its ultimatum.
"You cant do that! Your allegations are false. I believe in Mr. Wright and I've gotten over any resentment I've had! Your entire argument is built on lies! You have nobody special to me to kill!" Apollo indignantly yelled, anger surging through him.
"Bring in the girl," commanded the voice to some unseen assistant.
"Apollo! Help me, please! The person on the phone is-" screamed Athena before her voice was muffled.
Apollo's heart sank upon hearing Athena's voice. Now he had to choose between either the greatest person he had ever known or a reliable partner who he had feelings for. Apollo began to remember something his World History teacher told him back when he was in high school. The professor, Mr. Barajas, an admirer of Genghis Khan and his leadership skills, told his students that Genghis Khan lived with his soldiers to boost morale and to be an exemplary leader. The Great Khan said that "When it was wet, we bore the wet together, when it was cold, we bore the cold together." This statement could not be more true over the many years and cases he had solved with Phoenix and Athena.
"Tick Tock, Mr. Justice. Choose wisely," the voice finished before hanging up.
Apollo sunk to his knees on the floor of the Agency and for only the second time in his life, he began to cry.