"What's the difference between an orange?"
Defense attorney Phoenix Wright stared incredulously at Moe the former-clown. "What kind of set-up is that?"
"Quiet, Nick!" Maya cried. "Go ahead, Moe. What is the difference between an orange?"
"Lightbulb, silly, motorcycles don't have doors! Aha, aha, aha, aha, aha, aha, aha!"
Silence.
After what seemed like forever, a loud guffaw escaped Maya's lips. "Oh, I get it! Ha!"
"You don't get it, Maya," Phoenix stated simply.
"No, you see Nick, it's funny because it's true."
"What truth could you find in that?!"
Lawrence Curls (aka Moe) sighed. It had been about two months since the ringmaster of the Berry Big Circus was murdered. With his death and Acro's incarceration, there were some huge holes to fill in the flow of the show. Once Moe stepped up to be the ringmaster, things seemed to calm down a bit. However, it was clear to the other performers as well as himself that he was no Russell Berry. Tonight just happened to be their first performance without Russell, and Moe had personally invited Phoenix and Maya as a thank-you for solving the murder.
"Gee, clown shoes are pretty hard to fill, but filling the ringmaster's shoes is even harder," Moe said, plopping down into a chair.
"Speaking of which," Phoenix started, "who else have you hired to do the show? Surely it can't just be you, Regina, Ben, and Max."
"Don't worry; I added some people." Smirking, Moe added, "And don't call me 'Shirley.' Aha, aha, aha, aha, aha!"
Maya screamed with laughter yet again. Phoenix just stood there, shaking his head sadly. Moe continued right where he left off as Maya's giggles subsided. "We hired a few roustabouts. Sideshows, really. We can't afford much right now due to the circumstances, but we were able to manage a bearded lady, the world's tallest midget, and a..." He gulped, trying to force the words out of his mouth. "... and a clown," he managed at last.
"A WHAAAAT?!" Maya screamed.
"Yeah," Moe continued. "We pretty much had the entire show patched up, but we had one hole in the main ring. We had to plug it up somehow."
"Hold it!" Phoenix cried. "A bearded lady, the worlds tallest midget, and another clown. That's three people."
"Your point?" Moe drawled.
"Acro's spot and the ringmaster's spot were the only two up for grabs. Since you took the ringmaster's role, that left Acro's and your spots: only enough for two people." Phoenix was wondering how Moe could have missed such a simple mistake.
To his surprise, both Moe and Maya groaned at his deduction. "You obviously don't know much about the circus, Nick," Maya said.
"What do you mean by that?" Phoenix queried.
Moe stood, shaking his head. "In showbiz, people like bearded ladies and such only count for half an act, if not less. We needed at least two sideshows to fill one role."
"Even I knew that," Maya grumbled.
"Whaaaat?!" Phoenix was stupefied. Why am I always the only one out of the loop?
"But why, Moe?" Maya asked. "Why do they need a clown while your still around?"
Moe sat once more, tiredly. "I figured that a ringmaster of a circus should be more professional, so I decided that I shouldn't tell jokes anymore. The show still needed some humor, though, so we hired this guy."
"Well, that makes sense... Wait a minute! You're not going to tell jokes anymore?!" Maya was almost in hysterics.
"That's right. At least I won't tell them during performances. No more visual gags, either. I'm just going to be what Russell had in store for me."
"But you can't just give up something you love!" Phoenix argued.
"There's no avoiding it," Moe sighed. "My spot was the easiest to replace, anyway. Plus, the show would have gone down the drain. All of us owe too much to Russell to have let that happen."
"There's got to be another way!" Maya exclaimed. "What if... Hey! What if you guys took turns?"
"That's a great idea!" Phoenix agreed. "You could rotate ringmaster responsibilities by performance."
"Yeah!" Maya pumped her fist into the air. "And you wouldn't have to completely give up your individual acts while you were leading the rings! You could still crack jokes, Regina could still tame animals, and Max could still fly!"
Mow stroked his chin with a white-gloved hand, carefully considering their proposition. After a while, his face broke into a grin. "That's a great idea! It might take some doing, but I'm sure we're up to it." His smile faded as fast as it came. "But I'm still worried about tonight's show."
"You'll be fine," Maya comforted. "You've performed tons of times before. You just have a different part to play this time around."
Moe smiled yet again. "You're right!" he said, jumping up from his seat. We're gonna knock 'em dead!"
"That's the spirit, Moe," Phoenix said. Checking his watch, he added, "We'd better go get seats before the entire big top fills up."
"Don't work the crowd too hard, Moe!" Maya added as she headed out the door.
"Don't worry. I know that if I blow the top off of this place, then we won't have anywhere to perform! Get it? 'Blow the top off,' 'big top?' Aha, aha, aha, aha, aha, aha!" As he closed the door behind the two, Maya could be heard shrieking with laughter. Moe checked the clock on the wall, seeing that it was about 7:45. Fifteen minutes 'til showtime, Moe thought. I better round up everyone else. As he opened the door, he spotted a large poster of the late ringmaster. "This one's for you, Russell," Moe whispered as he shut the door to his room.