So this story is based on the idea that Luke would have been living in America around the events of Apollo justice's story. So it takes place at the start of that game, with Luke having lived there for several years.
I do prefer the version where they all remain friends after the crossover's ending, but this plot was just interesting to look at.
Spoilers for: A few minor spoilers for a couple of Ace Attorney cases and the end of Lost future, and for the events of Pl vs AA.
Disclaimer: I own neither Franchise
"Yeah, I can't wait to see you. Next week, I can show you everything here." Luke smiled as he listened to the reply from the phone "oh come on, you'll love it. I'll meet you at the airport in the morning, Bye!" As Luke hung up, Brenda smirked at him.
"Seems like you're getting awfully excited about Flora coming over." Luke blushed slightly. "And I've already told you, no phones when you're eating breakfast."
"Well, I've been gone for ages and the only time I've seen her is through a computer screen." He shut the phone down and put it back into his pocket. "And I've finished breakfast anyway so that rule doesn't count."
"I suppose it doesn't" Brenda picked up his plate and moved it aside, picking up the newspaper from the counter and flicked through.
"You know, hershel hasn't been in the papers for a while, I wonder what he's up to?" She looked over at Luke, who shrugged in response. I'm sure it's very exciting, even If they haven't reported it." Luke smiled to himself, there were lots of adventures that they'd gone on that were never reported, but he'd never let her know about them.
"Knowing the professor, it will be." He stood up and moved his mug over to sink "That reminds me though, I've got a story to cover at 3:00, but until then I was just planning to stay here. Is that alright?" Brenda smiled.
"I'm not going to kick you out of the house all day Luke, you stay as long as you need to. Your dad's got the day at work anyway" she took the mug from him. "It's nice to have you here when you aren't in class or off photographing crime scenes." She shook the mug at him "Even if you never do the washing up" Luke smirked and prepared himself to head upstairs, but something on the edge of Brenda's paper caught his eye. The front page Article talked about the closing of a murder case, and though the courts had never really interested him, there was a certain person in the photograph that looked all too familiar.
"Wait, mum. Can I have that for second?" Brenda handed the paper over, raising an eyebrow.
"What have you seen that's so exciting?" Luke flipped it to the front page and looked over it. The face in the photograph was blurred slightly, mainly focussing on the man who'd been arrested, but the spiked hair was obvious nonetheless. His eyes flitted over the paper until he picked out the name. He held it at eye level and read it aloud to his mother.
"Phoenix Wright, Ex- Attorney, was found to be innocent in the Bowl Club case. The man who was responsible for the arrests of criminals such as Manfred Von Karma was found to be just a witness to the scene, despite the claims made by the prosecution." Brenda stopped and leant on the side. "Ex-attorney?"
"Isn't he the one that tried to use forged evidence in a trial?" Luke shook his head.
"No, I don't think so. But he's definitely the one that helped me and the professor back in London! I'd recognise him anywhere." She takes the paper back off him and squints at the image. He'd never told his parents the full details of the Labyrinthia trip, realising they'd be too worried for his safety to be fully interested in the Witch Trials. They were, however, aware of the attorney's exchange and the Labrelum Company.
"My, he sure looks different." Luke looked at it again; it's true that the stubble and more casual clothing change his appearance a lot. He hadn't seen him in nearly 7 years, so it made sense.
"It's good that he got a Not Guilty, but what happened to get him arrested in the first place?" Luke rested a hand against his cheek.
"You might be able to ask him yourself" She ran her finger along the text "it says that 'Phoenix is currently in Charge of the 'Wright Talent Agency.'" Luke's eyes widened.
"That's just across town isn't it?" he'd seen it a couple of times when he was reporting, but never realised that he was the namesake. "Do you think I'd be able to see him?"
"Well, it's a talent agency, so it must be open to the public. And if you're an old friend, I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
"Looks like I won't need to sit around here all day." Luke took the paper and slipped it into his bag. "We had such a great time when we were together; I bet he'll be so shocked to see me." He thanked his mum and headed out the door, planning to head back after work. If the meeting went as well as he'd hoped, he'd be there for quite a while.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The house at the address had a large sign over the top of it, emblazoned with a large top hat. Luke knew this had to be the right place. He was honestly quite excited to see him again. Maya as well, they'd got on very well when they met. There'd been several times the professor had tried to catch-up with them, but there'd never been any chance and they eventually stopped keeping in touch. Luke hoped that they weren't too offended. He knocked on the door and waited, anxious to see his friends. He straightened his cap, preparing to greet them cheerily. But as the door opened, the girl inside wasn't one he recognised.
"Hello! Are you here to apply for the agency?" She seemed a few years younger than him and wore a hat similar to the professor's. The question threw Luke off as much as the girl's presence did, but he tried to keep a professional face, assuming this was somebody who worked with Phoenix.
"Um.. No." He strained to look over her shoulder. "I'm here to see Phoenix Wright. Is he here?" She smiled.
"Yes I'll just get him for you." She turned and yelled through the door "Daddy! There's someone here who wants you!" Luke was taken aback by that, surely this girl was too old to be his daughter? Unless he had got the wrong Phoenix after all. There was a yell from across the house that sounded distinctly like his though. She turned back to grin at Luke "If you just come inside, he should be down in a second. I'm Trucy by the way." She held out a hand to him.
"I'm Luke, nice to-" he withdrew his hand quickly as he felt a sharp shock through it. Trucy turned red as she looked down at her palm, a buzzer blinking in the middle of it.
"Sorry, I was gonna use it to scare Polly first. I must have forgotten to take it off." She pulled it off of her glove and slipped it into her purse. Without questioning who Polly was, Luke stepped into the house. He was shocked at first to see how such a place to belong to a defense attorney; it was messier than the professor's old office. Several stage props layered the floor and every shelf was filled with heavy books that seemed as if they hadn't been opened in years. "You can sit on the sofa if you want; I'll just tidy up around here a bit." Luke took her offer and sat up on the couch, cushioned between a large box of sparklers and a locked chest. Trucy moved round and picked up a few of the items, pushing them to the other side of the room. As she did, the door across from Luke opened.
"Who did you say was here?" he looked up at the man entering, he looked tired, dressed in an old t shirt. Nothing like the smartly dressed lawyer that Luke had seen in London. He carried a bottle in his hand that he continually drank from, upon seeing him he placed it on the table. "Ah, hey. You wanna apply for the agency or what?" Luke wondered why everybody assumed he was here about a talent. Trucy went to stand beside him.
"No Daddy, he says he just wanted to talk to you."
"Let the kid speak Truce." He walked over and sat opposite Luke, while Trucy perched on the sofa arm. "What did you want then?" he paused for a second, looking over at him "Wait, are you one of my old clients? You look familiar." Luke sat up straighter and smiled.
"I should hope so, sir. It's me, Luke Triton." Phoenix looked confused for a moment, staring at him before something clicked. He wagged his finger at him, smirking.
"Oh yeah, you're Hershel's boy."
"His, assistant actually. Like Trucy and Maya are to you." He hinted at his other friend, hoping to get some confirmation of where she was. Phoenix rubbed the back of his neck.
"Right, sorry. That whole witch thing was so long ago that I just-" he shrugged his shoulders "I don't really remember a whole lot of it." Luke tried not to look too disappointed. He'd nearly got the entire trip memorised. "But I remember you, Maya used to talk about you loads." He grinned at that, he'd really liked her company and was glad to see she felt the same way. "And by the way, Trucy's my daughter, but it's a common mistake." He moved on without discussing Trucy, that was Phoenix's personal life.
"It was a long time; I'm sorry for not getting in touch more." Phoenix waved his hand vaguely.
"It's fine, you've got your own life to lead. What're you doing over here then? Out of London I mean." He folded his arms.
"My family moved here a while ago, I was planning to move back but I got a job as a journalist here and decided to stay. I didn't realise you lived so close though." Phoenix laughed quietly.
"You look so old, what're you now, 18?" Luke nodded. "You live down here, and you're a journalist as well. If Maya and I had known before…" he trailed off, and Luke noticed he seemed more down than before. Luke took this as a sign that something had happened.
"Where is Maya anyway?" He asked. Phoenix laid back in his chair more. Luke didn't want to pry, but he was desperate to find out about her.
"Eh, she left to do medium training a couple of years ago. I see her every now and then, but after all the stuff with evidence and the Gavins…" he stopped speaking a looked over at him "You've probably seen all that in the papers though." Luke shook his head, realising the forging incident his mum mentioned may be true after all "Well I won't go into it now, but anyway, after that I didn't really want to get Maya caught up it everything."
"So you don't see her anymore?" He tried not to feel saddened by this, it was their choice after all, but he'd had an idea in his head that they were inseparable. Just like him and the professor….
"Sometimes but, you know, people change. I don't even know if she wants to be round me when I'm like this. I'm not even the 'ace attorney' anymore." As he said this, Trucy sighed.
"You can't say things like that right now; you'll make him all upset." Luke wanted to chip in that he wasn't upset but, a gentleman never lies. Things do change, but things round here had changed far too much for him to keep up with. He stood up slowly, picking up his bag.
"I'm sorry Phoenix, Trucy, but I have to be going. It was lovely to see you again."
"You're leaving so soon? You just got here." He quickly made his way to the door, he felt like visiting had been a bad idea. For the past 7 years he'd had this image of a brilliant attorney and his faithful sidekick in his head. But it had been shattered by an unemployed father and an absent spirit medium.
"I have to be somewhere." He turned the handle "I'll try and see you again. Good luck with getting your badge back." He could feel himself coming off as rude, but didn't know what else to do. This wasn't at all what he'd expected to happen. Phoenix kept up a polite demeanour as he walked away.
"Yeah, thanks. If you ever need an attorney then I can… fix you up with-" He stopped as Luke made eye contact with him "I'm sorry Luke. I know I'm not the guy you remember; I can see you're not happy with me." He got up and walked towards him.
"It's not your fault." Phoenix put a hand on Luke's shoulder.
"It pretty much is. But there isn't anything that can be done about it now. Nobody wants to be involved with me because of all the stuff in the papers. Hell, You probably won't want to see me until I'm back on my feet. And who knows how long that'll take. But if you want to see Maya, she'll probably be at Kurain village." He took a book from the desk. he pulled out a page, scribbled something on it and handed it to him "Oh and if you see her, Tell her I said hi. The professor as well, if you ever get a chance." Luke managed to muster a small smile.
"Sure. And I promise… I will try to stay in touch." Phoenix grinned at him and Trucy waved before shutting the door. Things may have changed, but Phoenix realised that as well. If things worked out right, maybe things had a chance of going back to how they were. Or maybe even turn out better than they were before.