Author's notes: This will almost certainly be completely debunked by Ace Attorney 6, but for now it is set 5 months after Dual Destinies's case 5 (putting it in early 2027).
Author's notes: it's a good job there's an updates feature for stories. (sorry to the 15 people who read it while it still had word-processor problems in it.) Anyway, this chapter will involve the cast of ace attorney investigations and thus may contain AAI2 spoilers.
Disclaimer: I do not own Capcom, Cacpcom, the Ace Attorney series, or any of the characters involved in any of the games in the series.
Without further adieu, may the chaos begin.
April 20, 11:14 AM
Wright Anything Agency
After a short string of cases, the members of the Wright anything agency were exhausted. Luckily, Trucy's magic tricks were able to provide some distraction from the armada of murder charges they had to drop but they were still heavily taxed by all the clients. However, there was a small window of freedom. There weren't actually that many clients, despite the fact that April is often the time of important clients popping up everywhere for Phoenix Wright.
"Ahhhh, now we can finally catch a break from being constantly in the courtroom", stated Athena, who just wanted to break the silence. It turned out she succeeded as Apollo replied, "Yeah, I wonder what happened to 'Anything Agency'." This earned giggles from Athena and Trucy. He then continued, "Phoenix, it looks like we might actually have a calm in the middle of the storm of clients."
Phoenix replied "I think this is the eye of the hurricane. Enjoy it while it lasts." Apollo and Athena didn't approve of the pessimistic comment, and let out a collective groan.
Click. Click. Bang. Thud.
This was a familiar sound, it was the sound of...
Pearl Fey entering the door. She was carrying a large parcel which had a letter attached to the top. "Fey deliveries at your service. It's addressed to you, Mr. Nick."
Phoenix replied, "I wonder what it is, Pearls." He then scoured the letter for clues.
Dear Nick (OK, I already know who the sender is)
GREAT NEWS!
(yeesh, you don't need that much emphasis, Maya. This isn't a comic strip.)
I have FINALLY completed my training. Definitely took me long enough...
(agreed, and if that's the case, maybe you do need that amount of emphasis)
So if you're ever short on clients, (like now) be sure to pay Kurain "Village" (it is NOT a village anymore!) a visit.
(It "isn't a village anymore"? I wonder what that means.)
From your most obnoxious client, (Maya, that is NOT something to be proud of!)
Maya
(Oh wow, how on earth did I guess?) Phoenix thought sarcastically, before realising there was a post-script.
PS: I'd prefer sooner rather than later, as I am missing you A LOT, and when you want to come, drop be a e-mail at "IMPORTANT .master_1 Maya .gov. kr" (".kr?" As in Kurain the country? I knew Kurain was getting powerful but this is ridiculous.)
, and be sure to start your message with "_Pa55W0RD$$" (That's a weak password if I ever saw one) Or it won't get through. This is just to avoid spam clogging up the important messages inbox.
(Maya, e-sensible? What is this madness?)
Also: DO NOT let pearly write your informal entrance passes or you will be sentenced to life imprisonment. (WHAT? Why would I be sentenced to life in prison, that's extremely harsh.) The elders may take "lovers" seriously. (oh... Yeah, that could get hairy)
You might like the package ;) it's a thank you for the 3+ times you have saved my life (no, the witch trial does NOT count because the fire pit was a fake out!)
(I still don't know what the package is, though. Let me see...)
Phoenix opened the cardboard box to find a Steel Samurai box set (I guess she "steel" has time for some movies, then), a judge's gavel (wrong side of the courtroom, Maya), and a huge stack of money labelled "Returns for the burger loan(s) with 5% interest and a $5,000 client's fee, love you" (one: I'm beginning to be suspicious that pearls' fabricated the evidence, and two: HOW MUCH?)
Phoenix visibly jumped at the amount of money in the box, the surprise overload almost breaking widget. This also jump-scared Apollo and Athena. Pearl giggled and asked "What are you going to spend it on? An upgrade to the office, Trucy's prop insurance?" This earned a laugh from the half-siblings, while Phoenix thought (probably the latter, knowing how dangerous her tricks are, HOW has she not gotten herself killed yet, Magic Panties clones?).
Phoenix then realised it was time to go back to Kurain village
At this point Phoenix announced, "I think it's time we had a vacation." "No objections!", everyone else exclaimed. But Apollo then stated "we should probably tell Edgeworth we will be absent for the next couple of weeks. You know, just to be polite etc." Phoenix approved of Apollo's professionalism and said "good move, I'll be sure to stop by the prosecutor's office on the way there. Pack your things and lock the office down tight because we're going on holiday!" (I hope Maya doesn't ruin it by attracting another umpteen assassins, we don't want another slew murder cases to solve...)
"Don't forget the e-mail, Mr Nick!" Pearl stated, as Phoenix had clearly forgot about it completely. He then sent a quick e-mail to tell Maya that he was coming to Kurain as soon as he got the chance.
"Let's go!"
Apollo then got all his clothes and stuffed them in the main pocket of his suitcase. It was quite the effort for Apollo, and he was exhausted after crushing the suitcase as tightly as possible.
Athena, Apollo, Pearl, Phoenix and Trucy then began rushing around to pack their suitcases, trashing the office (again) before setting off to their destination: Kurain, the land of the dead's revival.
April 21 9:00 AM
Pearl Fey's car
Pearl Fey had recently earned her driver's licence, and offered to drive. There were no objections, which may have been a big mistake... Trucy was somehow able to fit all her props in her suitcase, probably because of every cubic millimetre of room in her magic panties' pocket dimension. The rest were less lucky, having to settle with small suitcases containing just the essentials: wash-kit, enough clothes of all types to last the full 2 weeks, hiking boots, and the occasional electronic gadget.
The employees of the Wright Anything Agency then all went to the prosecutor's office in Pearl's 7-seat hatchback. The conversations they had were unexciting, until Pearl decided to spark rumours.
"Mr. Nick, I'm sure you'll have a great re-union with your 'special someone'." This caught everyone off-guard, adding fuel to the fire.
"I never knew you had a girlfriend." Athena said, Widget turning yellow and saying "dang, he's taken", which would have caused even more stupidity, but everyone was too busy interrogating Phoenix to notice.
His defence was: "Take that: Me and Ma- Mystic Maya," making sure not to give Pearl a motive for her shipping, and earning a short distraction from the chaos as everyone gave Phoenix a confused look. "Have been separate for almost a decade now, so even if we did have feelings for each-other beyond mere friendship, which I assert that we did not, surely they will have all but disappeared over the last 9 years."
He then continued by saying "I thought you got over this farce, Pearls." To which the reply from Pearl was "I really need to get my mind out of the gutter and fast." This earned a giggle from Trucy, and a scowl from Apollo. She then distracted everyone by saying "OK, we're almost at Edgeworth's place."
21 April 9:14 AM
Prosecutor's office, room 1202
After a few flights of stairs and a couple of short conversations, the cast arrived at Edgeworth's office. A male voice said "come in," which was promptly obeyed. Before the lawyers and their assistants stood Miles Edgeworth, Dick Gumshoe (who had somehow survived on barely anything for the past 7 years), and two others who they didn't recognise.
The first was eager to introduce herself, "Hello! I'm the Kay Faraday, the second great thief Yatagarasu, but you can call me Kay 'kay." Edgeworh then quickly interjected.
"She isn't a 'thief' of physical possessions, the technical term is 'whistle-blower'. She basically reveals secrets about corrupt governments, corporations, and celebrities and releases it to the mass media, letting the democratic public do... Let's just call it 'the rest of the work.'" He made his emphasis on true democracy very clear, as if it were some kind of rare thing (oh, wait), earning a few laughs.
Kay then continued, "And for anyone who thinks this is wrong in any way, the innocent always have nothing to hide, which means I can only catch guilty parties." Phoenix then turned this remark against Edgeworth by saying "unlike you, then." Edgeworth just returned it with a scowl.
The other person, a man Pearl recognised, but was a psyche-lock fest when asked why, was a high-ranking politician in Zheng Fa, Shi-Long Lang. She then responded to Phoenix's surprise by saying it was NOT romantic, breaking a psyche lock.
He introduced himself with "howl. Why are you the lawyers Edgeworth was talking about, the ones who caught the dark age of the law in plain sight." Kay took offence, (in plain sight? The Yatagarasu can never miss anything that obvious, why would he think otherwise?) and scowled at Lang.
"Y'know, fighting the dark age of the law with Edgeworth has really got the house of Lang quite the publicity, so thanks for exposing it, little Pearl and friends. Thanks!" This did not impress Phoenix one bit (so he used our UR-1 efforts, for PR? And "little pearl"? That's the best he could come up with? Also, apparently I'm Pearls's subordinate now, how times change...)
His response was a quick interjection. "Formalities aside, we should discuss the reason why we are here: we would like to take a 2-week vacation to a place called Kurain, and we are just telling you so you don't end up with any nasty surprises upon trying to contact us." Edgeworth then replied: "I see your professionalism has greatly improved since becoming a mentor. Excellent work and no objections from this side of the courtroom."
This held true for about 5 seconds, then Kay interrupted. "Can I come with you?" Pearl was the first to reply. "Sure, but make sure to pack quickly, we don't want any more delays."
Kay then made a surprising reply: "I was getting ready for a heist of knowledge, so I already have a suitcase packed for a 3-week siege." The reply was either "awesome!" or "Let's go already..." The latter was hastily obeyed.
April 21 9:43 AM
Pearl Fey's car
The now 6-strong army of defence attorneys and young women, one of which fitting into both categories, drove off to Kurain. The journey took about 1 1/2 hours, so Athena turned Widget off to avoid the constant "are we nearly there yet?" Which had gotten annoying after 10 minute minutes. (excuse the pun, it was just too tempting)
The conversations were all about introducing Kay to the other five, and discussing recent events. After a short time, though.
April 21 10:51 AM
Kurain-USA border
Pearl then announced "we are at the border to Kurain, so I need to make your passes. Just give me a few minutes."
"Hold It!"
"Maya told me not to let you write the passes" Phoenix stated with conviction. Pearl replied: "Fine, I won't write 'lovers', 'fiancees', or any other equivalent wording."
Phoenix was surprised by Pearl's new-found vocabulary, saying, "hey, wait. The Pearls I know doesn't know all these long words. Who are you and what have you done to the real Pearls?"
Pearl quickly used this opportunity to say, "oh, it was something to so with 'spirit channelling." This earned a chuckle from Phoenix.
She then wrote the passes and handed them over with a hasty "take that." They each had a full name and a status: "friend of Pearl Fey; Informal: yes; Formal: yes; Level: 15". Pearl stated "you need to keep these on your person at all times, otherwise stuff can get hairy". The message clearly got across. "They're also waterproof and extra strong, so there are no excuses!" The girl continued.
"Anyway, our first activity will be a hike through the woods... And up 3 mountains If you want a shortcut." Pearl was suddenly met with a lot of groans from 5 annoyed people.
(this is going to go SO badly...) Thought at least 3 members of the group.
Authors Notes: So the cast has finally entered Kurain... But they need to do a marathon through a forest to get to the Village. And this is still only the first day!
Red Moon- Thanks for clearing up the mistake on dates, I just added 10 years (1/2 + 1/2 +1 + 7 + 1) to the original (set in 2016) to get 2026. I clearly forgot to factor in the fact that some of the games take place over multiple months. Thanks for the review & glad you're enjoying it. The story now takes place only 5 months after case 5 of Dual destinies.