It was lunchtime in the prison cafeteria, and the large room was flooded with hungry, handcuffed inmates. Most of the inmates silently accepted the unappetizing food they were given and walked over to a nearby table to eat, while several more frustrated inmates muttered several crude remarks under their breath, some directed at the cops, but most directed at the man whom put the majority of them in prison in the first place: Defense attorney Phoenix Wright.
Most of the inmates were in jail for murder, and Phoenix had been responsible for putting a lot of them behind bars when they had always set someone else up to take them blame. A few of the inmates even got away with their crimes for a while before they were finally apprehended.
A redhead woman moaned as she walked past her usual table, where Redd White and April May were sitting. Those pink-haired people annoyed her to no end and seeing them where she usually sat meant that the instant the redhead sat down beside them, they would start shooting off their mouths.
"Where else can I sit?" The redhead asked as she scanned the cafeteria. Not bothering to give several of the inmates a second glance (a lot of them disgusted her to begin with), she finally noticed a wheelchair-bound man sitting at a table, alone, silently sipping the glass of water he had been given with his lunch. Much to her surprise, he was the only inmate whom didn't have any handcuffs on. Then again, he always seemed like a kind person, so maybe the guards thought he didn't need cuffs.
"He's always sitting alone." She said. "I may as well go over." The redhead made her way over to the table. "Is this seat taken?" She asked.
The man shook his head. "Not at all." He replied.
"Thanks." The redhead nodded as she sat down. "I don't think I'd be able to stand another round of those pink-haired shmucks' complaining."
"Indeed. That's why I prefer to sit over here." The man nodded. "That way, I don't hear those two." Showing a kind smile, he continued. "I'm Acro."
"Mimi Miney." The redhead replied before pausing. "You always seem like the kind sort. What did you do?"
Acro's smile faded as he sighed. "Accidental murder." He replied. "You?"
"Revenge by murder." Mimi replied simply.
"Oh! That's right! I remember your case." Acro said in realization. "Truly a tragedy of what happened to your sister."
"It was all Turner Grey's fault." Mimi muttered. "He wanted me dead and he caused that crash, but it killed Ini instead of me."
"Oh, yeah. The fourteen dead patients at the hospital." Acro nodded. "I read about that in the paper."
"I had nothing to do with that." Mimi insisted. "It was probably an accident, but I bet Grey caused it and pinned the blame on me."
"Don't worry. I believe you." Acro said.
This threw Mimi for a loop as her eyes widened. "What?" She asked. "You actually believe me?"
"Of course. I always had suspicions about Grey." The wheelchair-bound man nodded. "Before my brother and I joined the circus, our father was part of the circus as a trapeze artist and he had an accident."
"Really?" Mimi asked in surprise before pausing. "Oh, yeah. I remember stories about that when I got a job in the hospital."
"Then you know about his 'mysterious and unexplained' death." Acro asked, receiving a nod. "The police said that his heart gave out, but he was perfectly healthy. I suspect Grey accidentally did something that killed him. I don't know what it was, but I bet that's what happened."
Mimi shook her head. "I can't believe he would cover something like that up." She said.
"Hey, if what you told me is true and he was the one that killed all those patients, then you shouldn't be that surprised." Acro said. He waited a couple of seconds. "I can see why you killed Gray, Mimi."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. He practically ruined your life. He framed you for mass-murder, then indirectly killed your only sister." Acro replied. "I may have a kind nature, but if something like that happened to me, I'd probably snap as well."
"You have no idea how much it means to me to hear that someone understands what I went through." Mimi replied as she wiped a tear from her eye.
Acro sighed. "I know more about what you're going through than you might think, Mimi." He admitted.
"Really?"
"Yeah. My little brother-"
Suddenly hearing the sounds of a struggle, the two looked up and towards the door to the cafeteria, as did the rest of the inmates. Richard Wellington had just managed to wrestle a gun from a guard and had knocked him out with the blunt end of it.
"Okay! Which one of you guys has the keys to my cuffs?!" Wellington asked, looking at the rest of the guards.
"An attempt at a jailbreak." Acro noted.
"And it's by Wellington. I was wondering if it would be him or Redd White to snap first." Mimi added.
"Stall him." Acro whispered.
Mimi looked at the wheelchair-bound man. "What?" She asked.
"Stall him. We need to get the gun away from him before he hurts someone." The acrobat replied.
Mimi paused. She didn't want to put herself in danger, but she didn't want to be responsible for more deaths. Giving in, Mimi nodded at Acro. "I hope you know what you're doing." She pointed out.
As Acro wheeled away from the table, Mimi got up and approached Wellington, as most of the other inmates watched.
"Wellington, stop it." Mimi ordered, folding her cuffed arms as best as she could.
"Why should I?! I've had it with this dump!" Wellington replied. "I'm getting out of this place!"
"You sit yourself down and serve your sentence like the rest of us, pal." Mimi said. "If we can do it without doing something like this, then you can, too."
Wellington smirked. "You think you're better than me, don't you?" He asked. "Well, I've got news for you. You killed someone as well!"
"I killed Grey out of revenge for ruining my life, you moron!" Mimi replied.
"I don't think that's the right way for anyone to speak to me." Wellington replied. "Maybe I should-"
That was all Wellington could say before Acro, whom had wheeled up from behind, threw himself out of his wheelchair and on top of Wellington, knocking the dark-haired man to the floor. Acro started a quick scuffle with Wellington before Mimi stepped in and managed to wrestle the gun from Wellington's hands. This made the quick fight stop, seeing as how Wellington had just lost his weapon.
Mimi quickly handed the gun to another guard. "You may want to get him back to his cell before he tries something else." She said.
Although surprised that Mimi just gave him the gun, the guard nodded. "Let's take him away, guys." He said.
Wellington was hauled onto his feet and led out of the cafeteria, leaving the inmates in stunned silence.
Mimi helped Acro back into his wheelchair. "You okay?" She asked.
"I'm fine." Acro assured. "Well, that was interesting."
"Yeah." Mimi nodded. "You wanna go finish lunch?"
"Sure thing."
With that, the two went back over to their table and resumed eating and communicating.
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A few weeks passed. Every lunch, Acro and Mimi would sit together and talk. They both had to admit that they enjoyed each other's company and were starting to get to know each other a lot better. As a bonus, because of Mimi's improving behavior and her helping Acro with Wellington, she was allowed to walk around without handcuffs because she was trusted.
Acro was in his cell sometime after three in the afternoon when a guard approached the bars. Acro saw him and wheeled over.
"Can I help you, officer?" Acro asked.
"You and Ms. Miney have a visitor, Acro." The guard replied. "He wants to talk to the both of you at the same time."
Acro raised an eyebrow. "A visitor that knows the both of us?" He asked. "That's strange. Mimi and I met in here…"
Acro followed the guard, wheeling himself down the hallway to the visiting room. Along the way, he ran into Mimi, whom was also following a guard.
"You know who's wanting to see us, Mimi?" Acro asked.
"I have no clue." Mimi admitted. "I wonder whom it is…"
The two walked into the visiting room and approached the window to see the visitor. However, when they approached the window, they nearly jumped in shock at the blue suit and spiky hair.
Phoenix Wright.
Mimi slowly took a seat as Acro wheeled up beside her. "What is it…Uh…Mr. Wright?" She asked.
Phoenix's eyebrow lifted. "Not the initial response I was expecting." He noted. "I was expecting you to snap at me for putting you in here."
"She's been improving." Acro insisted. "So what brings you here."
Phoenix smiled. "Good news." He replied. "It took a little bit, but I managed to convince the judge."
"What are you talking about?" Mimi asked.
"I managed to get the two of you lighter sentences."
Acro and Mimi froze, their eyes widening. "W-What?!" They both asked as one.
"Let me explain. Acro, even if you DID murder someone, it was by complete accident and it was on someone you didn't have any ill feelings towards. Even the guards here let you move around the hallways without handcuffs." Phoenix explained.
"I regret doing what I did and I have been serving my sentence like I should." Acro explained.
"And Mimi, I did a little research." Phoenix continued. "Not only was Turner Grey responsible for causing that crash that killed your sister, but he was also the one whom killed those fourteen patients in the hospital."
Mimi's eyes widened even more. "R-Really?" She asked, not believing that her assumption about Grey was true.
"Mind you, it was a complete accident, but he decided to pin the blame on you because he knew his reputation would be ruined if he was exposed."
"And he thought completely ruining my life was a good enough payment to keep his reputation alive?!" Mimi cried.
"Apparently so, but that being said, you technically rid the world of a mass-murderer." Phoenix pointed out.
Mimi, too overwhelmed with this news, collapsed into her chair. Acro took this as his cue and continued.
"So she's not going to receive the full punishment?" Acro asked.
"Neither of you are, because those facts, combined with Wellington's little daring escape plan you two foiled, were enough to get me to convince the judge to lighten your sentences." Phoenix replied.
"How long?"
"A few years. Five max on good behavior." Phoenix replied. "But I'm trusting that you guys will stay out of trouble once you get out."
"Oh, yes. Definitely." Acro nodded. "Right, Mimi?"
Mimi, still to overwhelmed to speak, simply nodded as she wiped some tears away.
"I'd better get going." Phoenix said as he stood up. "I hope you guys will be okay for a few years."
"Thanks, Mr. Wright." Acro said. "Mimi and I owe you a lot for doing this."
Bidding farewell, Phoenix left the visiting room, leaving Acro and Mimi alone.
"Isn't this great?! We're getting out early on good behavior!" Acro told Mimi as she stood to her feet. "Now I can go back to the circus and you can live a normal life!"
"Y-Yeah…After so long, I'll be able to live normally again." Mimi said with a weak smile. "We just need to be good."
"That'll be no problem." Acro assured as he and Mimi started moving towards the door. "At least the stay won't be lonely."
Mimi nodded. "Yeah. I think it'll be a little more bearable with someone nicer than the rest of those creeps." She admitted.
Acro smiled and held out his arm. "Shall I accompany you back to your cell, Mimi?" He asked.
Mimi paused and looked at the wheelchair-bound man in the eyes. Giving a smile, she linked her arm around Acro's. "I'd be delighted." She replied.
With that, the two happily went down the hallway towards Mimi's cell, the guards following behind them.
Maybe the next few years wouldn't be so long after all…
END