Disclaimer: We don't own Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, because CAPCOM do. Problem, that.
Author's Note: This is our first story... Hopefully, it should play out like a case... Just to warn you, my bits may not be very in character, because I've only played 1 and a half cases on the game... I am playing more though... (Rollieo 122) This is mainly her chapter as well... I wrote a bit of it though... (Arty Thrip) Please let us (well, me...) know if it's alright!
Oh yeah, and anything like 'this' is a character's thoughts... And for the purposes of this story, we've relocated the game to England, because we're not great with American geography, and it was the only way we could some people their accents (*cough* Ellie *cough*)... And we think that Miles sounds British anyway... And this is set 18 months after the end of Trials and Tribulations (therefore Phoenix is still a defence attorney in this (we're hoping)) And because this is in England, it's primary school where Miles and Phoenix met, not grade school...
Turnabout Differences
Chapter One
It was midday, and in the Prosecutor's office, Miles Edgeworth was enjoying his tea in the relative quiet. He had finished all of the work he had outstanding, and as he had no upcoming cases in the immediate future as far as he was aware, he was thinking about leaving early and going home. Just as he drained his cup, the phone rang.
"Edgeworth speaking…" he said, slightly dreamily.
"Miles darling! So nice to hear your voice again! How the devil are you?" said the as yet unidentified woman on the other end of the phone.
Miles cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, who is this?"
"Don't you remember me, Miles?"
"… I'm afraid not, sorry… Should I?" 'If I remembered you, then I wouldn't have asked who you were, would I?' he thought.
"Oh. Well, you haven't seen me for nearly twenty years… It's Ellie…"
Miles raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid you'll have to elaborate, I still don't know who you are…"
"When I last saw you, I was Ellie Minate… Of course, I'm married now…"
Miles thought for a minute, and then it clicked. "Oh! Hello Ellie! You sound… different to how I remember you…"
"Daddy sent me to a boarding school in Sussex…" 'That's probably why I didn't recognise your voice…'
"Oh. Right. And what about your sister? Esther, wasn't it?"
"Yes. Daddy thought she was too common to waste his money on, sending her to a boarding school."
"Ah." 'I know how that feels.' "So, remind me, why exactly are you ringing me?"
"Oh! Of course! I'd completely forgotten! I was going to invite you over for dinner… and that friend of yours, if you're still in contact with him… Felix Wright, was it?"
"You mean Phoenix…" 'I haven't called him Phoenix for years!' "When were you thinking?"
"Well, I was actually thinking tonight…" 'Talk about short notice!'
"Would it be possible to acquire your address please?" Miles scrambled for some paper while Ellie reeled off her address to him at a rate of knots. He only managed to catch the end so he asked her to repeat it just one more time, slowly, though it seemed she had ignored him, because she didn't slow down at all.
As soon as Ellie had hung up, Miles typed in Phoenix Wright's phone number. Someone picked up after the answer phone had started complaining.
"This is… Wright and Co… law offices? Maya Fey speaking… H-H-How can I help you?"
"Oh, er… Hello Maya. Is Ph… Wright about?" 'There I go again...'
"Erm, no, he's cleaning the toilet… Did you almost call him Phoenix?"
"Whether I did or not is completely irrelevant. Will you please go and fetch him?" Miles said quickly in order to avoid the question.
"Please hold the line," she said monotonously, pressing the hold button to initiate the tacky music. Unbeknownst to Miles, she pressed the speakerphone button at the same time.
"Oh, Maya!" Miles mumbled irritably.
After a minute or two Phoenix answered, he sounded out of breath, as if he had been running. "Hi Miles… Edgeworth… Whatever you want me to call you…"
"Ah, Ph- erm… Wright!"
"… Did you nearly call me Phoenix?" 'I've heard that already today!'
"Shh you! Anyway, Wright… are you free tonight..?"
Miles heard Maya squeal in the background and then yell "Oh my God, Nick, he's gonna ask you on a date!"
Miles banged his head on his desk, before replying through gritted teeth "No I'm not, Maya…" 'She put me on speakerphone!'
Phoenix sighed. "Maya, you turned the speakerphone on again, didn't you…"
"Of course not, Nick… I… I must have pressed the button by accident…"
"Yeah right …" Miles said.
"Hey, I heard that!"
"That was probably the point, Maya… Now turn it off, and leave…" Phoenix said.
"I expect burgers for this…" she grumbled, before turning off the speakerphone and walking out of the office.
"Anyway, Edgeworth, what did you want?" Phoenix asked when she had gone.
"I was wondering if you were free tonight..?"
"For what? Maya wasn't right, was she?"
"Huh? No! No, no, no… NO! We've been invited to a dinner party…"
"… By whom?"
"Do you remember Ellie Minate? She went to primary school with us, along with her twin sister Esther…"
There was silence on the other end of the line while Phoenix thought, then he said "Oh! I think I remember… Didn't she go to some posh secondary school in Sussex or something like that, and Esther got stuck in a local comprehensive? This must have been after you left though…"
"Yeah, it was, but Ellie told me earlier… So are you actually free then?"
"Oh, erm… I think so…"
"I'm guessing you still can't drive, so I'll pick you up from your flat at about half four, alright?" 'Why can't he just take his driving test!?!'
"Erm… alright then… What's the dress code?"
"I think she said smart casual…"
"Right. So I'll see you at half four then?"
"Yes. Bye, Wright…" Miles hung up.
Seeing that it was only half past twelve and he had four hours until he had to go to get Phoenix, Miles decided he would go and have lunch, before coming back to his office and doing some research on the Bavarian Judicial System. 'Excellent stuff!'
***
As Phoenix put the phone down, Maya bounded back into the office. "So what did he say, Nick? Did he ask you out? Is he taking you out for dinner? Ooh, are you going to some posh restaurant? Can I come too?" she said, extremely quickly.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We're not going on a date, and he's not, Maya! He said that himself! And what have I told you about eavesdropping?"
"… Sorry Nick… I won't do it again…"
"Huh. That's what you said last time, and look where that got you!"
"So, can I come too?"
"No, Maya… We're going to a kind of school reunion, and anyway, there won't be any burgers there…"
"Oh. Well, can I at least have some money for burgers anyway? You owe me, remember..!"
He groaned as he pulled a five pound note out of his wallet. "Niiiiick…." She whined. He sighed, and swapped it for a ten pound note. "Thank you, Nick!" she squealed happily.
"But you're locking up, you know… I've got to be ready for Edgeworth to pick me up at home by half four… And I've got to put gel in my hair!"
"Fine! But it'll cost you an extra fiver!" Phoenix sighed again, and put the five pound note into her outstretched hand.
"Thaaaaank yooou, Niiiiick!" she sang, hugging him tightly before skipping off into the office.
"But someone has to… Oh well, forget it… Mayyyaaaaa! I'm goooooooingggg!" he yelled.
"Bye, Niiiiick! Ooh, Pink Princess is on!" 'Well, at least that'll keep her quiet!'
With that thought, Phoenix walked out of his office, on the hunt for lunch and a way home.
***
At half past four on the dot, Miles knocked on the door of Phoenix's flat. He heard running footsteps and Phoenix's yell of "I'm coming!".
"Hurry up, Wright, we've got to get into London and it's rush hour!" Miles shouted back.
Phoenix opened the door. "She lives in London?" he asked.
"Yes, Wright, I believe that is what I said…" Miles noticed that Phoenix was staring at him. "What?"
"You came straight from work, didn't you, Miles?"
"Erm… No..? Of course not..? What do you take me for?"
Phoenix rolled his eyes. "So you wear this all the time, do you?"
"Well, no, not all the time…" 'I have several, which I take to the dry cleaners! And I wear pyjamas to bed! God, what a waste of a suit that would be!'
"Right! We are going back to yours!"
"I- What?"
"I said, we're going back to yours! You can't wear that!"
"Why ever not?"
"You said it was smart casual! That is not casual!"
"I'm the smart part, you're the casual!" Miles replied, pointing to Phoenix's black jeans, wine red shirt and black leather jacket.
"That's not an excuse, Miles. Let's go."
Miles sighed and gave in. "Fine, Phoenix."
***
They walked into Miles' house. Phoenix looked around. "Wow. Your house is very… Magenta…" he said, as he took off his shoes, following Miles' example.
"Have you got a problem with that, Wright?" Miles asked.
"Nope, no problems here… Apart from your current outfit…" Miles rolled his eyes. "Where's your room, or wherever you keep your clothes?"
"It's this way…" Miles said, beckoning Phoenix towards his room.
"Thanks…" Phoenix said, when they were standing outside. "Right. Shower, now!"
"Whaaat?" Miles asked.
"I said, shower, now!"
"OBJECTION!" Miles yelled automatically.
"Miles, you really need to get your mind out of the courtroom… And anyway, you obviously came to get me straight from work, so get in that shower! And while you do that, I'll find you something suitable to wear…"
"But I-"
"Just do it!"
"… Fine!" Miles removed his jacket, waistcoat and cravat, before grabbing clean underwear and shuffling off to the bathroom.
"Meanwhile, I'll find some clothes..!" Phoenix started looking through Miles' cupboard and drawers, before eventually deciding on an outfit of a white shirt, dark blue jeans (which still bore their label and were in a carrier bag) and a light blue jumper.
A couple of minutes later, Miles returned to his room with a towel around his waist.
"Wow, that was fast!" Phoenix said.
"Well, we have still got to get to London, and we dunno how bad that traffic's gonna be…"
"Fair enough… Anyway, TAKE THAT!" Phoenix yelled the last bit as he handed Miles the clothes.
"What did you say about getting your mind out of the courtroom?" He studied the clothes, then held up the jeans. "Where on earth did you find these?"
"Oh, they were at the bottom of your wardrobe, still in the carrier bag… They even still had the labels on!"
"…" Miles looked at him blankly.
"You've never worn these, have you?" Miles shook his head. "Do you remember when you got them?"
"Nope… Maybe they were a present from someone…"
"Probably."
"Anyway, go get changed! As you said, we've got to get to London, and the traffic's probably going to be horrible!"
"Yes, mum!"
"OBJECTION! That was uncalled for!"
"Whatever… Now shoo!"
Phoenix bowed dramatically. "Yes, your Highness!" he said, watching as a smile tugged at Miles' lips. He bowed again and backed out of the room. Miles chuckled to himself quietly, before quickly getting changed.
When Miles reappeared in the living room where Phoenix was waiting, he found himself being wolf-whistled by the defence attorney. 'That looks better on him than I thought it would!' Phoenix thought. Miles blushed furiously, and Phoenix rubbed his neck nervously when he realised what he'd done.
"Sorry, that wasn't intentional…" he said.
"Don't worry. Shall we go?"
"Yeah. Might be an idea…"
There was an awkward silence as they put on their shoes. Miles gravitated towards his magenta jacket.
"Objection!" Phoenix said.
Miles looked at him. "What now?"
"Miles, you can't wear that! It doesn't go with the outfit!"
"… Fair enough… What do you want me to wear then?"
Phoenix held up a black trench coat. "Where the hell did you get that from?" Miles asked.
"I found it… In your wardrobe, I think…"
Miles looked at him blankly. "I don't remember buying that…"
"Another present maybe?"
"Probably." Phoenix handed Miles the coat. "We should go…"
"Yeah."
With that, Miles and Phoenix left Miles' house and set off for London.