Miles Edgeworth enjoyed driving his car, with good reason. It was red, had a leather interior, a lovely sound system, and it went zero to sixty in three point six seconds. If he was feeling indulgent, he would drive out to a lonely stretch of highway and just hit the gas until he saw another car. It was almost soothing, in a way.
At least when he was alone.
"It's the next exit, I'm sure of it."
"How can you be sure, pal? This map is so confusing I'm not even sure where we are."
"I just know, alright? Take the next exit, Edgeworth."
"Are you really going to take him at his word, Miles?"
"Maya!"
"I'm just saying, he barely believes you when you have evidence to back up your claims."
"Just because you don't know where we are doesn't mean the rest of us are clueless."
"Wait, which road are we on again, pal?"
"Well, at least I'm not clueless."
"Now just what is that supposed to mean?!"
Edgeworth scowled furiously as he got into the rightmost lane. He had clearly been insane to ever agree to this. How had Wright put it? It was Trucy's first show in Las Vegas, the Magician's Mecca. The hotel she was performing at had given them free rooms for a few days, and they wanted to share with their friends. He had pestered Edgeworth about it for days until he finally gave in and agreed to go. But then Wright had gotten it into his head that it should be a road trip, since Edgeworth actually had a car. And he had pestered Edgeworth about that for weeks until finally he brought in Maya and somehow, some way, she had managed to talk him into it. Wright had said before she had a way of getting people to do what she wanted. Now he knew it was true. Of course they had invited Apollo along for the ride, but he had had the good sense to insist on taking a plane. So instead he was in his elegant red sportscar with Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey, and Dick Gumshoe.
He blamed himself. Actually, that wasn't quite true. He blamed everyone including himself.
"Do you two bicker this much at home or are you simply compelled to annoy me?" Edgeworth asked testily.
"We don't!" Phoenix said quickly. "It's just-"
"He has the worst sense of direction!" Maya cut in, pulling herself up closer to Edgeworth. "Especially when he's in a car! I don't know why you gave him the passenger seat!"
"Because I'm the only one who can read the map!" Phoenix crossed his arms. "You're just mad because you wanted the passenger seat."
"I called shotgun!"
"It doesn't work like that. The passenger seat is a responsibility, there are duties associated with it."
"But I called shotgun!" Maya's voice grew in volume and annoyance every second, and she was seated directly behind Edgeworth's driver's seat. This was not ideal.
"A-are we this blue line? No wait, that's a river..." Gumshoe was fumbling with the map next to Maya. Phoenix looked back at him.
"You're holding it upside down, Gumshoe."
"Huh? Oh! Of course!" Gumshoe turned the map over and surveyed it triumphantly. His face fell. "I still can't make heads or tails out of this, pal."
"Well it's a good thing I'm the navigator now isn't it?" Phoenix said haughtily, taking the map back from him. "Now where were we again?"
"See? I should be sitting up there." Maya piped in again.
"Oh really? Just what do you have that I don't?"
"Intuition!" Maya said with a big grin on her face.
"Oh yes, that's served us so well in the past."
"What was that?!"
"You heard me!" Phoenix said, pointing at the map. "It was your idea to try and take a shortcut! We lost valuable time trying to find a way back onto the highway!"
"How was I supposed to know it was only a hiking trail?!" Maya said, crossing her arms and pouting. "Stupid map has hiking trails as big as roads."
"That's exactly why I get the passenger seat."
"But I called shotgun!"
"Will you all kindly shut up?!"
Everyone shrank back from Edgeworth, and all was silent, save for the rumbling of the car's engine as they sped along the highway. Edgeworth took a deep breath to calm himself as Phoenix went back to reading the map and Maya went back to staring out the window at the flat expanse of desert speeding by them. After a minute, Gumshoe spoke meekly.
"Mr. Edgeworth? Sir?"
Edgeworth sighed heavily. Gumshoe had never really accepted the fact that he no longer worked under him. "Yes, what is it?"
"I, uh..." Gumshoe twiddled his thumbs innocently. "I need to use the bathroom."
Edgeworth's scowl returned. He had been a colossal fool to ever agree to this.
They stopped at a rest area to get gas and allow Gumshoe to use the facilities. Edgeworth leaned heavily against his car, waiting for the tank to fill. Suddenly, he turned around and tapped on the glass of the passenger window.
"Out." He said curtly.
Phoenix got out of the car, closing the door behind him. "What is it?"
"Maya sits up front from now on."
"What?! But she-"
"The only reason I'm doing this, the only reason," Edgeworth made sure to stress that point, "is that I don't want to here her whine about calling shotgun for the rest of this Goddamned trip. Now trade seats with her. You can read the map in the back as well as you can in the front."
Phoenix pouted, but obeyed. When he informed Maya of the new seating arrangement, she smiled triumphantly and took an inordinately long time to make her way around the car and climb into the passenger seat. Phoenix paused before he got into the back, staring at Edgeworth. He looked like he wanted to say something. Edgeworth, however, was in no mood for idle chit chat.
"What?" he said irritably as he removed the pump from the gas tank. Gas was not cheap, and of course he was going to be the one to pay for it.
"Nothing," Phoenix replied quickly before climbing into the backseat.
Gumshoe came wandering back from the convenience store, looking far more comfortable than before. After Edgeworth paid for their gas, they were once again on their way. He prayed this would be the last stop they made before they reached Las Vegas.
"Could we stop for burgers?"
"No," Edgeworth snapped. "If we stop somewhere now we might not make it before dark."
"But we haven't eaten all day!" Maya protested.
"No." Edgeworth was resolute.
"Please?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Pleeeaaase?"
"No."
Maya frowned. It was time to bring out the big guns. She put on her best smiling happy face, her most effective puppy dog eyes, and put her hands together.
"Please, Miles? I'm just so hungry."
Edgeworth immediately averted his gaze. He had to will himself not to look at her. She was far too cute for her own good. Maya leaned in closer and Edgeworth leaned away. He chanced another glance at her and found her putting it into overdrive. His resolve was weakening rapidly. How can a grown woman act this way, he wondered. Futhermore, how could it be working so well? But of course this was no ordinary woman. This was Maya Fey, Master Manipulator.
His frown was fading fast. He had to focus, had to fight the strange power she possessed. He mustn't look, he mustn't, he mustn't.
He looked. And that was that.
"Alright," he sighed, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
"Yay!" Maya threw her hands into the air victoriously. Phoenix leaned forward in his seat.
"Now you see what I have to deal with," he muttered to Edgeworth.
"I heard that!" Maya said, smiling at Phoenix. "Just be glad I only use my powers for good and not for evil."
As Edgeworth pulled into the next rest stop with a fast food burger joint, he wondered if Maya's moral compass wasn't a bit skewed.
"If we hadn't stopped for burgers, we might not be in this situation." Phoenix pointed out.
"Well if we hadn't stopped for burgers, we wouldn't have gotten to eat burgers now would we? I'd say it's a fair trade," Maya retorted, rubbing her stomach.
It was dark, and they were on the outskirts of Las Vegas caught in the largest traffic jam Edgeworth had yet encountered. And he lived in Los Angeles for God's sake.
They could see the famous Strip in the distance, it's fantastic buildings and bright lights taunting them from beyond the incredible line of cars.
"Maybe we should just park the car here and walk the rest of the way," Gumshoe suggested.
"Not a chance in hell," Edgeworth said determinedly. "I am not leaving my car here."
"Well, what else can we do, pal?"
Edgeworth considered their predicament carefully and sighed in resignation.
"You can all walk the rest of the way. I'll ride out this traffic jam and meet you at the room."
Maya immediately shook her head. "No way. We're not ditching you."
"I don't know if you've noticed, but you're not exactly helping," Edgeworth said with a scowl. "I don't need you here, so just go on ahead. I'll catch up."
Maya moved to protest, but Phoenix interrupted. "He's right. If we don't get there soon they might give our room away. Let's go."
Before anyone else could object, Phoenix opened his door and climbed out, moving to the rear to get their suitcases from the trunk. Traffic was at a standstill. He could see cars for blocks in both directions. He couldn't guess how long it would take for Edgeworth to get to the hotel.
"See you later, Mr. Edgeworth..." Gumshoe said, his voice and expression the epitome of sad reluctance as he got out of the car. Only Maya was left.
She just sat there for a moment, staring at him. Edgeworth grew impatient.
"Just go," he said, resigned to his fate. "Or they'll give our room away. And then I'll have to pay for that too."
Maya unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Thank you, Miles," she said as she squeezed his shoulder.
Edgeworth found himself smiling, despite his mood. "It's nothing."
Maya got out of the car with some hesitation.
It was over an hour before Edgeworth broke through the traffic and got to the hotel. He gave the valet a rather large tip out of happiness at having finally made it to his destination.
Any other day he would have been impressed by the needlessly extravagant lobby or appalled at the sheer number of people in the casino. But not today. He was too tired to give much thought to anything except getting to his room and going to sleep.
As he walked down the long hallway he checked his key again. 1102 was the room number. It was a two bedroom suite, one with a king size for Phoenix and Maya and the other with two queens for him and Gumshoe. He hoped the detective didn't snore. That was the last thing he needed.
He sighed in relief as he found the room and inserted the key. As he entered, he was struck by two things: one, that the common room between the two bedrooms was quite large, and two, that Phoenix Wright was sitting on the couch, feet on the table, watching HBO on an exceptionally large television.
Wright turned his head towards the door as he heard it open. "Hey," he greeted.
"Wright...where are the others?" Edgeworth asked as he closed and locked the door behind him.
"Asleep," he said simply.
"And why aren't you?"
"I wanted to talk to you when you got back."
Edgeworth sighed wearily and rubbed his forehead. "About what?"
Phoenix turned off the television, then stood and closed the distance between them. He looked rather remorseful.
"I just wanted to say thank you for taking us on this trip. I mean, I know it wasn't exactly the most enjoyable thing in the world for you, and really we probably shouldn't have bothered with it but...I don't know. I just thought it would be fun, you know? We don't really get to see each other outside of work anymore, and I thought...well. I just wanted to say thanks."
Edgeworth glared at him for a moment before his expression softened. "It was nothing. I...rather enjoyed myself."
"Really?" Phoenix asked, surprised.
"Yes. I...had never gone on a 'road trip' before. It was..." Edgeworth paused as he tried to think of the best word to describe the experience. Amusing? Refreshing? Irritating?
"...Interesting."
Phoenix beamed at him. He knew that was the best he was going to get out of the dark haired prosecutor.
Edgeworth sighed yet again, averting his gaze. "Which bedroom is mine?"
Phoenix pointed to the door on Edgeworth's left. He started walking towards it when Phoenix spoke again.
"So you think you might wanna drive to Sacramento with us next month?"
Edgeworth froze for a moment, then snorted and turned to look at his friend as he opened the bedroom door. "Don't push it, Wright."
Phoenix just grinned at him as he closed the door behind him. Edgeworth kicked off his shoes, threw off his jacket, vest, and cravat, then collapsed into his bed. Briefly, he glanced over at the unusually quiet Gumshoe. He had a snore-dampening piece of tape on his nose. Silently, Edgeworth thanked him before nodding off to sleep.
He dreamed of his car, beautiful and red, going a hundred miles an hour with him at the wheel. All alone.