Lights Out!
"... Ergo, the defendant is the only one that could've gone to the victim's room." Edgeworth shook his head smugly, expecting to see a sweating Phoenix across from him. But when his eyes found the blue attorney, he was smiling back at him.
"Tsk tsk, Edgeworth. You should know by now not to sound so sure of yourself," Phoenix shook his head, "This piece of evidence is enough to turn this whole case around!"
"Then get on with it, Wright!" Edgeworth yelled, hand slamming onto the wooden table, "Let's see this evidence of yours!"
Phoenix smirked, "My pleasure." His hand lowered, going behind the table, in which he grabbed a piece of paper that held so much power over everything that it felt heavy just to hold it. "This piece of paper clearly shows that--" The light flickered, making Phoenix cut himself off. Glancing up at the ceiling, he blinked as all the rows of lights went off one by one, the sound of the fans going with it. He blinked again, the sounds of the people in the gallery growing louder.
"Gah! Who turned off the lights?!"
"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no! Apollo? Are you still there?"
"Are people who turn off the lights bad people, mommy?"
"Stupid government! Wasting their taxes on useless things like schools instead of using it on over decorated courtrooms that obviously need more money!"
A few muffled hits of the Judge's gavel rang out before he actually found the gavel's mound in the darkness. "Order, order! I will have order in my court!" Even in the dark where no one could see him, the judge shook his head in amazement, "I want everyone to get out of here at once! If all of the power has gone out, I will need everyone to evacuate this courtroom! I shall postpone this trial until the next possible moment, perhaps tomorrow, so get ready. Right now we need to find out who did this..."
The sound of footsteps, feet shuffling, people banging into things, people banging into each other, and murmured words of apologies sounded throughout the courtroom as the people made their way out. Phoenix, however, stood his ground, leaning against the defense bench.
"Edgeworth?" He called out as soon as he had made sure the courtroom was empty. Eyes adjusted to the dark, he walked across the courtroom with ease. He stopped when he felt the smooth wood of the prosecutor's bench under his finger tips. Taking a few more steps forward, he cast his eyes down when his knee touched a shaking Edgeworth. Crouching down to the pink prosecutor's level, he reached out to touch Edgeworth's shoulder. Grey eyes opened wide, and he slowly turned to face the blue defense attorney.
"Wr-Wright?"
"Edgeworth," Phoenix said in gentle yet firm tone, "It's all right. Just a little power outage is all."
Sighing, Edgeworth closed his eyes again. "Yeah... It's not like we're in an elevator running low on oxygen."
Phoenix winced lightly at the sarcasm, but smiled nonetheless. "I'll stay with you until you're feeling better," He reassured him, placing a hand on Edgeworth's shoulder. He shivered lightly, but nodded in silent thanks.
--
Gumshoe stumbled up the flight of stairs, tripping over three more steps in the deep darkness. He was talking to himself worriedly as he hustled up the stairs. About three more flights of stairs to the top floor, the detective stopped to take a break, his breath coming in sharp gasps. Eyebrows drawing together, Gumshoe cast his gaze towards the top of the stairs, frowning at the mistake he had made.
"Why did I have to show them that?"
--Flashback!--
About a week ago.
"C'mon Gumshoe! You must know something about it!" Maya insisted, leaning on his arms as they walked.
"I definitely knowsomething about that kinda thing, pal. It's just that I can't tell YOU anything about it."
Pearl glanced at her older cousin, earning a nod in her direction. She walked in front of the detective, causing him to stop and look at her with a confused expression. He was then confronted by the cutest puppy dog face in the world.Her bottom lip was trembling, eyes wide and shimmering with tears as she pleaded, "Pleeeeeaassse, Mr. Scruffy Detective?"
Scratching the back of his neck, Gumshoe caved in, speeding his pace a bit. "All right, you two. Follow me. And you had better be quick about it, because Mr. Edgeworth's trial starts in about half an hour, and it's a long way up."
"Okay!" The two spirit channelers chorused, exchanging quiet highfives and grins as they followed the kind detective.
After about twenty five flights of stairs later...
"O-okay, girls! This is it, pal! The control room!" Gumshoe opened the door with a dramatic flourish, chest heaving as he gasped for breath.
Maya rushed in, glancing around at all of the switches, buttons, control panels, and... the television and mini fridge in the corner. Her eyes glistened with mischief as she grinned excitedly. Ooh, this was going to be perfect...
"Uh... Mystic Maya? Why is your face all... wee-ird?" Pearl asked, tilting her head to the side.
"C'mere Pearly! We've got some planning to do," The older fey whispered to her little cousin, who in turn scrambled to the legal aide's side.
Meanwhile, Gumshoe sat resting on the door to the room, his eyes closed as he rested from the trek up the stairs. He was running his testimony plans over in his head in an attempt to block out the muffled giggles, whispers, exclamations, and mispronunciations from the other side of the door.
When he had gotten to the eighth time, the door swung open, causing Gumeshoe to fall onto his back, meeting the gazes of both the Feys. They looked too.. happy.
"Uh, hey girls. Are you done, pal?" Gumshoe pushed himself off the ground with the help of Pearl, stepping back to dust himself off.
"Yup! Thanks for everything, Mr. Gumshoe," Maya smiled, pressing her hands together.
Gumshoe scratched the back of his neck, smiling back as he said, "No problem. Now let's hurry back down before the trial starts..."
--End Flashback!--
Gumshoe winced at his past decisions. He was certainly making up for it now, it seems. In these kinds of instances, Gumshoe really wanted to go back and think about what he had done wrong to deserve these kinds of things. But he really didn't have the time for it now, because the detective was all for finding those two girls and finding out what they were up to...
--
The two attorneys were sitting in a comfortable silence, either one stealing glances at each other in the dark. They both had their backs against the wooden table, just... sitting.
"So, um... how's life treating you, Edgeworth?" Phoenix said, giving a try at conversation. Edgeworth sighed, trying to look at the powerless lights at the ceiling through the darkness.
"Hmm. The ususal. Work, and all that. It's all I ever do, anyway."
"Don't you have a hobby, or something to entertain you?"
"Well, there's always Gumshoe," Phoenix smiled at this, "But otherwise, no I don't have a hobby. No time for that anyway. It's always work, work, work, anyways."
Phoenix bit his lip at that. No wonder he always looked so tired. Even he didn't work all the time. It's not like I have that many clients, anyways. It was a bit of a surprise when this client came along anyway, especially with the amount of money he makes.
"Don't you get any... breaks? Vacation? Anything?" Phoenix cast his gaze onto Edgeworth, tilting his head to the side a bit.
"Well... I don't spend all of my time at the office. I go home, too, you know. But I end up working there, too..."
"Don't you do anything else besides work?"
Miles paused at this. Anything besides work...? "Um... n-no, now that I think about it, no," Miles shook his head, then cast an accusing glare at Phoenix, "But wh-what does it matter to you, anyway?!"
Phoenix smiled at him again. Around him I'm always smiling anyways... "I... want to get to know you better, Miles. After all, it's been fifteen years, hasn't it?"
"Yes, well..." Miles trailed off, not exactly sure if he should talk about these kinds of things, especially when there was work to be done. "I... have a dog. Her name is Pesu."
"Yes, go on," Phoenix insisted, waving his hand in a way that said, "Go on, go on."
"I... well, she's my dog. I love her very much. What else is there to say, Wright?" Miles face was a bit red by now, and he was staring right at Phoenix, which was a surprise considering how dark it was.
"Nothing, really," Phoenix said, turning to lean against the wooden table again. "This is very... nice. I like talking to you, you know," Phoenix closed his eyes, smiling again, "It really has been a while."
"...Yeah."
--
"Okay, what's going on here, pal?!" Gumshoe hollered, opening the door without knocking. Looking inside, he spotted the two spirit channelers watching the Steel Samurai in the corner eating a bag of Doritos Sweet Chili Heat, sitting in pink bean bag chairs. Blinking in surprise, he cast a glance at the buttons and switches on the walls as he let himself in, walking towards the two girls. For some reason, the power was still on in the room...
"Hey, detective! What're you doing here?" Maya asked, putting down the volume on the TV. Pearl watched on in silence, munching on a chip slowly.
"I should be the one asking you that, pal! What happened to the power?!" Gumshoe yelled angrily, tipping over a bit after the amount of hits he had taken from the evil twenty five sets of stairs leading to the very room.
"Should you really be asking that, Mr Gumshoe? Isn't there something else that you find, oh I don't know, suspicious?" Maya asked, leaning over the edge of her bean bag, the sound of the shifting Styrofoam beads shifting with her weight accompanying the sounds of swords clashing in the background.
"Um... I don't know? Maybe I should be asking why you guys turned off the power, but that's just prying, and--" Gumshoe stopped and blinked at Maya's face. An expression of "ooooh" appeared on the detective's face as Maya sighed.
"Can't you see it, Mr Gumshoe? I've put Nick and Mr Edgeworth together in the same room! Alone! It's a great opportunity to try and get them together! Heh, Nick'll be thanking me for this! Then it's all the free burgers I want! Mwahahaha!" Maya cackled evilly, her hands shaking as Gumshoe stared at her like there was a huge monster clinging onto her face.
"Mystic Maya! It's true love I say! I'm glad we've been able to help Mr Nick with his special someone!" Pearl swooned, holding her hands together, ignoring the television now.
"And it's totally hot! Imagine all of the stuff I'd be able to post on Facebook..." Maya grinned as the two girls giggled together.
Gumshoe sighed, shaking his head. "If it makes Mr Edgeworth happy, I'm all for it."
"Good! Then you can watch the night adjusted cameras for us! Help yourself to anything in the fridge, too. These guys sure have a lot of snacks!" Maya turned her attention back to the television screen, where a commercial aired about sleeping pills and their side effects.
Gumshoe nodded and shuffled towards the fridge, grabbing a can of soda and a sandwich. Ah, a break from work. Something needed for all of the people in this very courtroom...
--
The two attorneys were now dozing lightly, Phoenix leaning lightly against Mile's shoulder. About two hours had past since the lights went out, and Phoenix had been pondering on whether or not he should be going home. This was the last trial day, and he had almost gotten one of the witnesses to confess. But that was only an accomplice... He had his suspicions, but there was only one truth. His client was most definitely innocent, and Miles knew that, too.
Phoenix blinked, the thoughts keeping him out of his doze. He blinked again as his eyes grew heavy again, his head drooping even lower onto Miles' shoulder. The day's trial was very heated and very exhausting, even with the help of Mia. He was glad that it was almost over, especially since he had looked over that piece of paper again. Huh. He's such a wealthy man, that guy. Can't believe he... used that for... Phoenix yawned before drifting off to dreamland, hands clenching the Magatama in his pocket.
Phoenix unconsciously nuzzled Miles' neck from his position on his shoulder, waking up the pink prosecutor. Wearily blinking his eyes, Miles looked around him in the black darkness, seeing nothing but the blue outline of Phoenix's suit and the pink of his own. Subconsciously smoothing out his (expensive)suit, he cast his gaze onto Phoenix's sleeping body. He blushed a bit at their closeness, but smiled faintly at the sleeping attorney. He... must have been up pretty late last night. The defendant may be innocent this time, which is not much of a surprise since Wright actually accepted this case, but... he must not be used to it like I am. Miles sighed, closing his eyes again. He's lucky to be able to choose his clients, unlike me...
Miles shook his head. I... shouldn't complain. I did accept this job, knowing about its consequences and large amounts of time consumption. Again, unlike Wright over here... It's so strange that we're so different and yet... we seem to be so... interested in each other. He blushed a bit at this, but again he shook his head. Gah, I-I shouldn't be thinking about these sort of things. Especially when he's so... close to me. Miles' blush only darkened as he stroked Phoenix's hair subconsciously, running that thought over in his mind. We've always been close, haven't we? Ever since the fourth grade... So why am I blushing over such a small thing as being close to him? I-it's not like he minds, or anything. This is getting stupid-- Phoenix's movement stopped his train of thought. The blue attorney shifted more of his weight onto Miles, his arms coming up to hold him like a teddy bear. Miles flushed an ever darker shade of red now, falling over onto his back. Phoenix was now lying on top of him fully, his arms wrapped around his torso in a vice grip.
"Nngh... you can't go again... don't leave, Miiiilesss," Phoenix muttered, nuzzling into his chest as he slept on.
Wr-Wright...His eyebrows drew together as he placed shaking hands on the back Phoenix's neck. After a few seconds of waititng for Phoenix to wake up and bite his head off, Miles decided to shift into a comfortable position on the cold linoleum floor. They were both curled up against each other and Miles, despite being on the floor, had gotten the best sleep he had ever had in the past month, dreamless and peaceful.
--
"...Nick! Can you hear me?! I said, WA--"
"Yeah, I heard you, I heard you! Geez..." Phoenix rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he sat up. He blinked sleepily as a hand was offered to him. Taking the hand, he hauled himself up to the face of a smirking Edgeworth.
"Have a nice sleep, Wright?" Edgeworth squeezed his hand before letting it go, turning to face Gumshoe, Maya, and Pearl, all looking apologetic yet shameless. Gumshoe fiddled with his jacket as Pearl stared quietly at Edgeworth. Maya, though, was quickly tucking away a floppy disk into her sash as the pink prosecutor stared them down.
"I have but one question for all of you. Despite your actions, I believe that your punishment shouldn't be toosevere, but don't foget who you're dealing with," Edgeworth paced a short line in front of the three, his tone dark and serious, "And that one question is: What the hell were you thinking?!"
Edgeworth whipped around to face them, glaring fiercely at them. "Well?! Speak for yourselves!"
Pearl bit her lip and squeezed Maya's hand just a little harder. Maya flinched, looking down at her sandals. Gumshoe looked down, sweating rivers as he fidgeted on the spot.
"It... It's all my fault, sir! I never should have shown them the room, I never should have, pal!" The detective wailed, grabbing Edgeworth by the shoulders, "Oh, if only I had known what they were planning, this never would have happened! I'm sorry, Mr Edgeworth, I'm so sorry!"
Edgeworth gently eased off Gumshoe's thick hands off of his shoulders before turning his back to them. "Well. It seems that you are all guilty after all. I am disappointed, but I'm afraid that I will have to--"
"Miles! Please don't turn them in! Even... even though I'm not exactly sure what they were doing, I'm sure they had a good reason! Just-- Don't turn them in. I'm sure we can think of something," Phoenix pleaded, taking Edgeworth's hand again, "Please?"
Edgeworth stared into Phoenix's eyes for a moment, a blush creeping onto his features. He looked away, but didn't let go of Phoenix's hand. "Fine. J-just think of something smart, o-okay?"
"All right, Miles," Phoenix smiled, then turned to face the three culprits. "Okay you guys. I don't exactly know what you guys were doing when you turned off the power, but I want you guys to think of an excuse real quick. And it had better be good!"
They nodded an affirmative, then put on real serious thinking faces. Pearl was biting her thumbnail as she shifted her weight between both feet, Maya was staring at the power-lit ceiling as she hummed quietly, Phoenix was scratching his chin and looking into space, Gumshoe was moving his eyebrows in numerous patterns, and Edgeworth was... staring at them all incredulously.
"Must it really take this long to--"
"AHA!" Maya exclaimed, effectively cutting Miles off. Her eyes shone as she said, "All we need to do is say that an animal got trapped into the control room and accidentally turned off the power!"
Phoenix glanced at Maya, sighing. "Do you really think they would believe that?"
"Sure they will! I mean, it's just the Judge, right?"
"Umm, I'm not too--"
"Wright!" Edgeworth interrupted, poking him in the shoulder to stop him, "Are you seriously considering that?!"
Phoenix, someone who was used to the things that came out of Maya's mouth, which was usually a "Let's get burgers, Nick!", nodded quietly. Edgeworth frowned at this, then sighed and muttered, "You people are hopeless." He cleared his throat then said, "We have to think of a reason to why the power could have gone out so suddenly."
"Um... Well, maybe it could have been a system malfunction? It is summer, you know, so maybe it got overheated without anyone fixing it?" Maya piped up again, her finger held high as she suggested this. Phoenix gave her an incredulous look at her comeback, and he had a feeling Edgeworth was, too.
"Where did you... How did you come up with that?" Phoenix asked, eyebrows raised. "I thought you didn't know a thing about computers and stuff like that."
"Simple, Nick!" Maya grinned and gave a thumbs up, "There was an episode of the Steel Samurai where Neo Olde Tokyo's power went out because of a heat wave in the middle of winter! It turned out that the Evil Magistrate was using a--"
"Snow powered heat generator," Edgeworth continued, eyes sparkling with fanboy-ism, "so the Steel Samurai used his spear to destroy the machine, which was high up on Mt. Neo Fujiyama, which leaded to an epic battle between him and the--"
"Evil Magistrate, which then caused them both to fall off the mountain, tumbling into a dark oblivion filled with Christmas presents--"
"Where they ended up helping the other to get out, along with the numerous gifts!"
"Man, that was a greatChristmas special!" Maya and Edgeworth beamed together with pride, recalling the next few epidsodes, which led to the New Years marathon and so on. Phoenix and Gumshoe exchanged confused glances while Pearl listened in silently, trying to get in as much information as she could.
"Ah yes, good times, good times," The two Steel Samurai fans chorused, nodding their heads together. Maya pulled a face then, cupping her chin before saying, "What were we talking about, again?"
"How the power suddenly went off," Phoenix replied, still a little surprised at their Samurai flashback. "I think that that would make a perfectly fine excuse, just-- don't ever do that again, okay? Y-you kinds scared me there, you guys..."
"All right, Nick! I promise!" Maya grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Oh yeah, sure. Let's just hope that we don't get another client from Global Studios again...
"Uhm, Mr Nick? Shouldn't we get out of here before they realize what we've been doing?" Pearl suggested, holding up a finger to emphasize her point.
"Good idea, Pearly! C'mon guys! Let's go get some burgers!" Maya grabbed Pearls hand as she marched off towards the door.
"But what about reporting to the Judge and the courthouse maintenance, pal?" Gumshoe cried, "I don't want to get a cut again!"
"Then you had better be off, detective," Edgeworth said, dismissing him with a wave of his hand, "You're still needed around here, you know."
"Yessir! All right, Mr Edgeworth, I'd better be off, pal! Good-bye Mr Edgeworth, Mr Wright!" Gumshoe waved a wide hand before hustling off to the police department.
With those three gone, it left Edgeworth and Wright together, alone in the empty courtroom. They exchanged shy glances before looking away childishly. The two attorneys stood stock still for a while, staying silent as the tension grew.
"So, uh, you free for the, um, rest of t-today?" Edgeworth stuttered, looking shyly yet expectantly at Phoenix. The blue-clad attorney smiled softly in reply, looking him in the eyes as Edgeworth flushed.
"For you, Edgeworth, I have the whole day to waste," He said, taking the flushed prosecutor's hand, not forgetting to grab their case evidence from the benches, as they strode silently out of the courthouse.