Disclaimer – I don't own the Ace Attorney games... no, seriously, I have to borrow copies of it from friends when I want to play. I'm hopeful that maybe, for my birthday or perhaps Christmas, that will change... but, for now, I simply don't own them.
Summary – When that case landed on Edgeworth's desk all those years ago, he handed it off to the 'Rookie Killer' deliberately. Years later, he finds himself doing the exact same thing for the exact same reasons... A behind the scenes take on why Prosecutor Payne was assigned the first cases in the first and third Ace Attorney games.
The Death of the Rookie Killer
Part One of Two
Miles Edgeworth was the youngest Prosecutor in LA. As such, it didn't matter that his perfect win record was the most impressive out of all the Prosecutors he worked with; he was the 'kid' of the bunch and thus had to prove himself anew with every damn case.
He was starting to get just the slightest bit annoyed.
In order to force the other Prosecutors to adopt at least a grudging amount of respect for him, Miles had gotten into the habit of reviewing every violent crime that came to trial. He'd try to connect crimes, doing his best to ensure that the guilty party was the person who was being put on trial so there wouldn't be any screw ups once he got behind the Prosecutor's stand in the courtroom. So far, he'd been successful. Despite the condescension from his fellow Prosecutors and the whispers of 'Demon Prosecutor' that haunted him from the tabloids, Miles was feeling pretty good about where he was at in life.
Though his successes weren't enough to please Manfred von Karma yet, Miles was confident that, eventually, he'd be perfect enough even for the von Karma standard.
Glancing over the summary of the topmost case file on his desk, Miles froze. He suddenly felt cold as recognition flooded through him at the sight of the defendant's name: Phoenix Wright.
The best memories of Miles' life were of his childhood before Gregory Edgeworth died. Phoenix had been his best friend – the most important person in his young life except for his father. The idea that Phoenix was capable of murder was utterly ludicrous. After all, this was the guy who'd broken down into tears simply for being falsely accused of stealing lunch money.
Yet here was this case file. Phoenix Wright was being accused of murdering Doug Swallow. There was evidence to back everything up; the case looked fairly solid at first glance. Looking at the case with the eyes of a Prosecutor, Miles could already see where testimonies would have to be tightened in order to gain a quick guilty verdict.
The chill Miles felt grew worse and a sort of nauseous feeling began to coil in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't do this. He couldn't take this case.
The name filled in under the Defense Attorney part of the file made Miles calm down somewhat. Grossberg's name was there, but crossed out. Mia Fey was written next to the scratched out name. Miles vaguely remembered going against her in court once before, about a year ago, and he was fairly certain she hadn't been in court since then. She'd seemed very young to him, despite the fact that she was older than Miles, but he'd seen the potential in her to be the rare sort of defense attorney that Miles secretly admired; an attorney who fought for truth and justice, not mere acquittal... an attorney who reminded Miles a little of his father.
Best of all, though, was that Mia Fey was still a rookie.
Closing up the file, Miles slipped it into his briefcase and left his office. He took off in the direction of the office of one of the senior Prosecutor's: Prosecutor Payne.
-=-=-=
"I thought you might be interested in this case," Miles began without preamble, holding out the file to Payne.
"Hmmm?" Payne looked up, startled enough to take the file automatically. "Really? Why is that?" Already Payne was flipping idly through the documents enclosed within the folder. "It looks like an open and shut case; easy pickings for a novice such as yourself."
Miles bristled internally, but kept himself outwardly calm. If he wanted this to work then he had to ignore Payne's patronizing attitude. Besides, Miles knew he was the better lawyer anyway; Payne didn't have a perfect record, after all.
"It does appear to be open and shut," Miles agreed. "It was just that I noticed the defense attorney attached to the case is something of a rookie. I know how much you enjoy going into court against rookies..." trailing off leadingly, Miles waited for Payne to take the bait.
Predictably, Payne's grip on the case file tightened slightly as a smirk lit up his face. "It's always so terrible to watch the hopes and dreams of unfit rookies get squashed. Someone has to do it, of course..."
"I'm sure you'll do an admirable job of showing Miss Fey that she is ill-suited for the world of defense attorneys and prosecutors," Miles drawled, heading for the door.
"Yes... yes..." Payne was already tuning Miles out in favor of obsessing over the case.
Once out in the hallway, it was all Miles could do to keep from acting just the slightest bit excited over his success in pawning off the case. In the end, as he walked back to his office, a small smile made its way onto his face.
Late the next day, Miles heard the news; the Rookie Killer had been defeated by Mia Fey.
Part Two of Two
Miles felt a distinct sense of deja vu as he stared at the case file on his desk.
No longer the 'kid' of the Prosecutors' office, Miles was one of the most feared Prosecutors in LA. Only Lana Skye and Manfred von Karma were considered more terrifying. Yet Miles continued to review every single case that came to trial. He hated the idea of mistakes being made that might lead to acquittal or a mistrial.
The deja vu came from the fact that, once again, he recognized the names listed for the defendant and the defense attorney. The defendant's name was Larry Butz; Miles remembered going to school with the trouble maker along with Phoenix Wright. Judging by the fact that Phoenix's name was the one listed as the Defense Attorney, it seemed that Larry was still causing Phoenix all sorts of disaster.
The distinct feeling of having been dunked in ice-water hit Miles as he stared at Phoenix's name.
Miles clearly remembered that, when Phoenix had been put on trial some years previous, Phoenix Wright had been an art major. What had possessed the man to pass the bar instead of becoming an artist? Even as kids, Phoenix had been incredibly talented; his sketches had been lifelike, his paintings in art class appeared professional even to the eyes of their teacher, and he'd turned out some rather impressive pieces of pottery as well. Except Phoenix was apparently letting all of his amazing talent in the field of art go to waste.
Phoenix had become a Defense Attorney of all things. Miles felt as though the world had been turned upside down.
Unwilling to deal with the case himself, an idea sprang into being in Miles' mind and he packed up the file. It was time to pay a visit to another Prosecutor.
-=-=-=
Miles had, over time, become better at dealing with his fellow Prosecutors. They'd grown to respect him and, in turn, he'd grown more polite when putting up with their more unusual excesses. There was, of course, an exception to the rule.
Walking into Prosecutor Payne's office in a manner not unlike the one he'd used some years earlier, Miles held out the case file and said, "I thought you might be interested in this case."
"What?" Payne looked up at Miles, too startled at first to do anything but stare.
"Are you going to look at the file or not?" Miles demanded.
"Prosecutor Edgeworth?" Payne asked, still shell shocked at the sight of the Demon Prosecutor in his office holding out a case.
As tempting as it was to tell Payne that he was really the Easter Bunny in disguise, Miles simply waved the file in the other man's face again. "I'm waiting," he responded simply.
"Uh... yes, of course." Taking the case file from Miles, Payne started flipping through it. "Uh... it appears to be a fairly open and shut case, Mr. Edgeworth. Why did you think I'd find it interesting?"
"The Defense Attorney is some rookie named Phoenix Wright," Miles smirked at the sight of Payne's eyes lighting up in unholy delight at the mention of the word 'rookie.' "I remembered how much you used to enjoy crushing the hopes and dreams of those unsuited to be lawyers; I thought you might like a chance to revive the Rookie Killer."
"Yes... yes, thank you, Edgeworth..." Payne started babbling about respect between colleagues or something else that was equally inane, so Miles turned and walked out, leaving the file in Payne's incompetent hands.
The next day, Miles was unsurprised to learn that the 'Rookie Killer' had failed again.