Chapter 2: Eat Your Burger Ramen, Maya
These character designs I posted the link to last chapter are still relevant for this chapter (as we still have Franziska's new look, but we'll also have the new looks for Miles Edgeworth, as well as Mia and Maya Fey in this chapter) so here is the link, I wanted you guys to see some basic character design ideas I have for this fic. http [:][/][/] [angelrin89.] [tumblr] .com [/]post/169489975418/the-great-dual-substitute-turnabout
Here is another link for some more designs of characters that will be appearing in the near future, http[:][/][/] [angelrin89.] [tumblr] .com [/]post/169713182978/the-great-dual-substitute-turnabout-more-designs
And here is another however these last designs not have anyone featured until later chapters, http[:][/][/] [angelrin89.] [tumblr] .com [/]post/169828407023/the-great-dual-substitute-turnabout-even-more
I also did a sketch of Phoenix's parents when they were younger, how they would of looked when Phoenix was in elementary school. http[:][/][/] [angelrin89.] [tumblr] .com [/]post/169824855663/reuploading-my-sketches-of-phoenixs-parents-for
Just remove the brackets and spaces and you can see the inspirations for some of the character designs I have planned for this fic. I'll get around to sketching some more of my inspirations eventually but here is something to use as a point of reference. You know some day maybe fanficnet will let me post links to my fanart so I don't have to deal with this stupid way of adding it.
Also, yes as I mentioned last chapter, Phoenix's parents' names are Nicholas and Phoebe because put their names together you get Phoenix. Just a cute thing I thought of. I also wanted to give a thanks to one of my good friends, just-absolutely-super, who is editing this chapter. My best friend coolman229 is currently going to be editing chapter 3 also. I am trying to have a set schedule for my fics this year. I'm writing chapter 3 already as we speak by the time this is up, and he will beta it once it's complete. I expect him to have it edited sometime next week, not sure what day as I told him he didn't have to rush as I only needed it done by some point next week. I decided to write both chapter 2 and 3 back to back, but I have to get onto my other stories after this but just something for you guys to savor for now.
("B-Brother?!")
Phoenix suddenly felt lightheaded again but he refused to pass out a second time and just pushed through it.
Franziska tried to explain everything as best as she could after that. She went over to a shelf by the TV and pulled out something. When she walked back towards him, he realized it was a photo-album.
"Here, Phoenix look." She held up a photo-album for him to see.
The short prosecutor flipped through and...everything looked so foreign to him. Images of apparently a childhood and adolescent years spent with Franziska von Karma. With...with Manfred von Karma. Franziska was apparently his adoptive sister. Meaning to his horror, something drastically different happened in his life where his parents could no longer take care of him, and Manfred von Karma adopted him!
He couldn't even hear what Franziska was saying, she was trying to give him the simpler play-by-play version of things but her voice sounded so distant. Nothing was being absorbed.
Here in this universe...DL-6 never happened. He felt himself internally shaking at that thought. Something else replaced DL-6. Something that instead involved him? Just what was going on? He still wasn't sure if this wasn't just some horrible dream.
"Phoenix, are you listening?" Franziska's voice broke him out of his stupor.
"I...this has to be a mistake. I can't be a von Karma, I'm Phoenix Wright!" He denied fervently.
"Well, I suppose that is half true—but you are a von Karma, Phoenix." Her tone almost sounded hurt.
"Huh? What do you mean half true?" He said while just staring at her dumbly and blinking.
She sighed and left the room briefly but not before ordering him to stay put. When she returned about three minutes later, she had what he realized was a passport in her hand. She really did know her way around here, which only reinforced the whole sister thing it seemed. He couldn't read the passport but that was because it was in German.
"Look here," Franziska flipped through to the most important page, an image of him with more words in German he couldn't understand but the important thing was the name listed, "See?"
He felt himself shiver involuntarily when he took the passport from her.
("That...that says...Phoenix von Karma!")
He immediately whipped out the wallet in his left jacket pocket. He found himself puzzled as he found a driver's license, which was surprising in of itself, but the name of that read Phoenix Wright instead.
"I'm confused, why do these have different names on them?" He gestured to both the passport and driver's license.
"I don't know the whole story, but legally you changed your name back to Phoenix Wright but you had it arranged to where that would be your name in the states. Internationally you prosecute under the same name as the name you were given when you were adopted, Phoenix von Karma. You had some personal reason, that I assume has to do with..." She trailed off and stopped herself before finishing her sentence.
He was about to ask her what she was referring to but then she started to rummage through her purse.
"So the pictures didn't help jog your memory but maybe this will. Your birthday is coming up soon, but I may as well give it to you now. Who knows, it may help."
She pulled a very skinny box from her purse and handed it to him. She urged him to open it. It was a blue box with a gold velvet ribbon tied around it. The wrapping paper felt nice too, he almost felt guilty for ruining such nice paper and ribbon when he tore into it. But then again who would waste money on making something out of fancy material that would end up in the garbage anyway? After pealing the last of the paper off he opened the skinny box...another fancy cravat.
"It's tradition that every year one of the presents I get you for both your birthday and Christmas was a new finely made cravat. It became a tradition ever since you first started studying law under our Papa." She smiled fondly as she explained.
She proceeded to put the cravat around his neck and tie it good. She didn't look him in the eye but he could see her small grin that glowed a bit as she did that.
It felt uncomfortable but he didn't have the heart to protest, especially seeing her light up when talking about this tradition. Seeing that happiness she barely was masking as she tied it around his neck...dare he say it, but she was looking adorable like this. It reminded him oddly enough about Maya or Pearl or Athena, and even Trucy (though being her father he could be biased in that department on finding Trucy adorable). It was weird equating Franziska to any of them but that's how it felt, strange as it was.
"Well?" She asked eagerly.
He just frowned and shook his head. He hated that he had to dash her hopes he would remember something considering he was not the Phoenix she thought he was, but it couldn't be helped. Not that Franziska would be one to give up so easily.
He decided to get her talking more around the circumstances that led him to being brought into the von Karma fold.
"So, how—"
Franziska then interrupted him.
"How did you come to be in our family?"
He could only nod. She let out a sigh and gave him the abridged version. She told him to sit down first as Franziska didn't want to make things worse; she wanted to keep it short but gentle as possible. (Well as gentle as Franziska von Karma is capable of.)
"Your mother and father—there is no easy way to say this Nick...I'm sorry, but they're dead." Franziska broke the worst of it first.
He was grateful he was sitting down. That seemed so unreal. He had recently talked with his mother and father on the phone about a couple of weeks ago. It had to be unreal. This was clearly a big mistake.
("I'm not in some alternate universe! I'm in a damn nightmare!")
The more Franziska explained, the worse it got apparently. They weren't just dead, someone murdered his parents! And not just any someone, a name he was familiar with, the suspect that was arrested and found guilty was Yanni Yogi who apparently in this universe was a cop and not a bailiff. But why would he kill his parents? Unfortunately, there was no answer for that in Franziska's summarized story.
According to Franziska, Manfred von Karma (no way in hell would he call that man father) found it "shameful" Gregory Edgeworth would defend the—apparently as she put it—"obviously guilty murderer of his parents". Found it "shameful" Gregory Edgeworth sided with the supposed murderer and not the victims' son—who happened to be best friends with Gregory's own son.
The more he gathered from her retelling that apparently Manfred von Karma found it even more "shameful" when he found out that the young Phoenix Wright aspired to become a defense attorney when he grew up. According to Franziska, "their Papa" was "horrified" that Gregory Edgeworth was "tainting" an innocent youth with his "lies and corruption".
("HA! If that isn't the biggest load I've ever heard! He's the last person to ever talk about someone being corrupted or a liar!") Phoenix mentally scoffed to himself in the middle of her story.
Franziska continued her summary of the events. Manfred von Karma deemed it necessary to "rescue" the young Phoenix Wright. Apparently during a recess of that trial, Manfred went into the defendant lobby to let Gregory Edgeworth know there was no way he could win this case and to quit while he was ahead. He stopped himself from approaching the attorney when Manfred overheard a conversation between Gregory Edgeworth and his son. Mr. von Karma heard the young Miles Edgeworth asking his father if they could take Phoenix in to live with them when the trial was over. Franziska said "their Papa" realized in that moment was the only chance he had to supposedly "shelter the young Phoenix Wright from such foolish and pathetic individuals who would taint him."
Phoenix would have thrown up after hearing all that if Franziska wasn't present.
But that raised a lot more questions. For instance, why would Manfred von Karma adopt him? He knew why he took in and mentored Edgeworth in his world, it was his way of getting back at Edgeworth's father. Spiting him from beyond the grave by molding Edgeworth into the opposite of what his father was. But he never adopted Edgeworth, he raised Edgeworth as a student...not as a son. Why would he do that with Phoenix? Was there more to this story? Not to mention Yanni Yogi and whatever his connection was to his parents? On top of a dozen other questions, but that would have to wait. That was all he would get from Franziska about this part of the story.
From what Franziska described however...it sounded as if Manfred von Karma didn't treat Phoenix that much differently than he treated Franziska. That struck him as odd considering how the man treated Miles...but then again, Phoenix realized his treatment of Edgeworth reminded himself that that was just an extension of his hatred of Gregory Edgeworth. Not that being treated similarly as Franziska was ideal either considering how warped she turned out.
("Please tell me I'm not some whip cracking lunatic also?!") He internally winced at the notion.
What really caught Phoenix off guard was Franziska describing their relationship. Apparently in public they were the perfect prosecuting duo. The perfect business partners. They always had their own cases they handled on their own; however they would still collaborate on some of their big cases together and be each other's co-counsel depending on who was assigned to be in charge of the case. They were feared and respected by many. Always on the news, whether nationally or internationally.
But in private...? Apparently, he was a doting brother, to Franziska von Karma. There was no mistaking the way she described it. While not the same it sounded similar to...him and Maya. That was just too weird to try to wrap his head around. In this universe Franziska was his Maya?!
Honestly, he hoped this universe version of him had half a brain cell to see anyone other than her!
("What about the Skyes?! They are both eerily similar to the Fey sisters! Lana was a chief prosecutor and could easily be a substitute for Mia here, and Ema makes perfect sense to be a substitute for Maya to this prosecutor version of me!") He thought desperately.
Phoenix then had to admit he was slightly ashamed for that thought. After all, was this not technically good news? It meant that Franziska von Karma was not completely heartless like her father...it was apparent she cared in her own way about her "brother". True, the Franziska von Karma of his world lightened up after he saw her last during that whole incident regarding the case with Dahlia and Godot. But he hadn't seen Franziska in years, and she still could be pretty...well pretty violent.
Phoenix was curious though; the idea was oddly fascinating, Franziska von Karma as a child...actually hanging out with him? It seemed almost too surreal. From everything she described, they sounded like their relationship was radically different than the Franziska and Edgeworth of his world. Franziska condescendingly once called Edgeworth "little brother," but he just could tell she didn't see him that way. She treated him more like a rival, an obstacle she needed to surpass that was even more important than her out-of-nowhere rivalry she declared on Phoenix. He couldn't really understand her. Never mind that Edgeworth didn't seem to treat her like a little sister. Though he didn't know the full extent of what the heck you would call her and Edgeworth's relationship, as no normal human type of relationship definition seemed to fit with both of them. Rivals or really weird, abnormal, friends who can't be anything but dramatic and overtly intense…that was the closest thing he could think of when describing Miles Edgeworth and Franziska von Karma.
He felt himself sigh, now wasn't the time to entertain these thoughts. Phoenix hated beating around the bush but he knew he had to ask about the current case at hand.
("Mia...what am I going to do?") He thought miserably.
His mentor, his former boss...Mia Fey. The woman he admired and aspired to emulate as an attorney. She meant so much to him, losing her was indeed a gut punch but he'd been able to move past that and go on with his life. But here she was, still alive apparently. And she'd been working for years with the Edgeworths now instead, that in itself had many questions but he knew for a fact that Mia would never kill anyone. Maybe he was letting his bias from his universe affect him, but he didn't care. Maybe things were drastically different in this universe, but his gut told him—alternate universe version Mia or not—she was innocent.
"Franziska," addressing her casually felt weird especially because in the past she would throttle him with her whip if he did so, "what about the Gregory Edgeworth case?"
"Well, with your current condition, it would probably be best if you rest and let me takeover. I know you were assigned to it, but you can't perform like this. I'll have everything taken care of, baby brother."
("No, I can't allow that! Knowing her, she'd just steamroll the trial to get Mia a guilty verdi—wait? BABY brother?! Last time I checked I was 34 years old, meaning you're only what? 27? Who are you calling a baby?!")
He frowned as his eyebrows furrowed and his nose scrunched up in annoyance.
"Baby bro—? I'm older than you!" He blurted out in exasperation but then immediately flinched fearing he'd get a whip to the face.
Franziska von Karma apparently didn't notice the flinch; she just...giggled?
("Wait? She's capable of giggling? Like some ordinary girl who doesn't whip you every five seconds, screaming fool with every other word? Okay this HAS to be a dream!")
"There he is." She said with a genuine smile.
It was so unsettling seeing a smile so warm on Franziska von Karma.
"There who is?" He asked, completely puzzled by this non-Franziska behavior.
"Despite your amnesia, I knew hiding under all that clueless buffoonery was my brother."
"Wait what?" He said with a single raised brow.
"When we first met, I declared you my new baby brother and protégé...you weren't keen on someone younger than you bossing you around. Despite my best efforts as a little girl, I could never quite tame you to see it that way." She chuckled with a nostalgic look in her eyes.
So, it was a trick. She was testing him; trying to see if he would react the way her Phoenix would react. Not that it mattered, he wasn't her Phoenix Wright. But...wait a second—?
"Who are you calling a clueless buffoon?" He actually dared to question out loud.
Instead of a whip like he'd normally expect she opted to flick him in the nose.
"OUCH!"
It wasn't the crack of a whip but it still hurt though.
"You, you fool." She said with a huff.
He grumbled and rubbed his nose.
"Let me help you." He said instead, changing the subject.
"What? You must be joking? Phoenix, you only have bits and pieces of your memories! Do you think I would be foolish to let you take this case on in your condition? Absolutely not! Utterly foolhardy foolishly foolish! Out of the question, brother!" She huffed.
"I remember plenty about the court! Listen uh—Rule number 1 in Evidence Law: No evidence shall be shown without the approval of the Police Department. Rule number 2: Unregistered evidence presented, must be relevant to the case in trial!" He exclaimed.
"Phoenix—!" Franziska had that impatient look but he interrupted her.
"The defense attorney engages a criminal bench trial, representing his or her client against the accusations of the prosecution. A defense attorney's aim is to cross-examine any witness brought to the stand, uncover any contradictions in their testimony or in the evidence itself during the cross-examination. Cross-examinations are especially important for not only finding contradictions in testimonies or evidence, but as well as leading to new information that can come to light!" Phoenix said confidently.
"Great so you know what a defense attorney can do, foolish brother, but I doubt that will help you as a prosecutor right now with your limited memories." Franziska said as she tapped her foot impatiently.
She had a point there; he was supposed to be a prosecutor here, not a defense attorney. But that didn't matter, he had to help Mia and find Gregory Edgeworth's real killer no matter what. He had to keep trying to convince her.
Phoenix racked around his brain to remember the official explanation when studying law for the prosecutor's role rather than his personal one as he wanted to sound as professional as possible to convince Franziska. Parroting Edgeworth's enlightened view on a prosecutor's role probably wouldn't go over well right now either. He needed a concise, unbiased, and most objective sounding answer possible.
"A prosecutor's job is having a suspect arrested for a crime the police investigate. They will build a case against their suspect using evidence that is collected and presenting the case against the suspect turned defendant in their following trial. A prosecutor is also responsible for managing the credibility of his or her case against the defendant as well as the defense attorney representing them. And as representatives of the state in criminal trials, prosecutors also have a duty to ensure the public that criminals are met with absolute justice and swift punishment for their crimes!" Phoenix then declared.
Franziska let out a heavy sigh through her nose and squared him up still with that impatient look, her nose crinkled a split second after he finished speaking. She remained quiet for a bit. Phoenix couldn't help but feel a burst of further confidence swell through him.
("Yeah, how about that Ms. von Karma!? I sounded like some kind of impressive, smart professor at law school, huh? You can't fault that answer, it was nothing but as you would say, PERFECT!") He didn't let it show physically but mentally he had a smug grin.
"You're a fool if you think remembering some definitions they teach in law school will convince me." Franziska said dryly.
("Oh, COME ON! What will it take to convince you woman!?") He thought with frustration.
He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a quiet growl under his breath. Why did she have to be so difficult?
"What else do you need for me to prove I remember law and can help do this?! Do you need me to describe DNA testing? Or dusting for finger prints? The role of the judge? Describing the three-day trial system? Gun ballistics?! Well if you must know, I remember being told over and over again they are like the fingerprints of a gun! What else do you need from me?! What?!"
He normally wouldn't have raised his voice against her in such a manner but he was losing his patience and he desperately wanted to help Mia. He was not going to take no for an answer! But what could he do? What could he say to convince her? He couldn't let her get Mia a guilty conviction. He had to do something, Mia needed him!
("Think Wright! Think! There has to be something you can say that would convince her! Wait...yes, that would be the only thing that would convince her...even if saying it out loud would make me sick.")
He took a deep breath.
"Franziska..." calling her by her first name felt so uncomfortable and alien to him, but he squashed his discomfort, "a von Karma is supposed to be perfect."
True, in this universe he was still Phoenix Wright...well technically half the time but that was beside the point. Like it or not he was also a von Karma here as well. It was the correct answer that even she couldn't argue against.
From the look on her face he could tell she was angry but also conflicted at his response.
"You can't be foolish enough to think in your condition—"
He interrupted her, "And if you were in my condition? What would you do?"
She had no counter argument. Finally, he found something that would sway her; he wished he thought of it sooner. He won this battle and she knew it. She looked quite annoyed at that fact, he was grateful he wasn't dumb enough to smirk at his victory over her. No need for a repeat of that; he was pretty sure he still had scars after his first victory against her when she whipped him enough times to knock him unconscious.
"Fine! Be a foolish fool who is foolishly stubborn! But don't you think for a second I'll leave you in such a state to prosecute this case alone! Your opponent is none other than that arrogant fool Miles Edgeworth, you need me!"
Edgeworth, one of his childhood friends. He wondered how different things were between them in this universe. He had to assume they weren't on friendly terms here like in his world, judging by how Franziska referred to the Edgeworths as "their" enemies. Add to that, she also made it seem like Mia was their enemy too. It was going to be difficult trying to help both of them while pretending to be their enemy. But even if both of them happened to hate him here, that wasn't going to stop him. He was going to do the right thing. He just hoped he can convince Franziska that he agrees with her point of views on this case when he actually feels the complete opposite.
"We will go speak to the Chief Prosecutor later, have it switched so you'll instead be co-counsel. Do you have everything? We should be going, we're behind as it is." The short prosecutor asked.
Co-counsel huh? Well he supposed it was better than nothing. He might still be able to manipulate this in Mia's favor even as just her co-counsel, but it will be tricky especially because it's Franziska von Karma. But he was confident he could pull it off.
As for her other question he did a once over of everything he had on him. He had the house key, his wallet, phone, the magatama that mysteriously is with him somehow, he supposed he would need whatever notes and evidence collected on the case. If this Phoenix was anything like him, he would keep most of it with him at all times.
"Hang on...just give me a sec—!" He dashed out of the living room.
He headed back to the room he was sleeping in earlier, the one belonging to the other Phoenix. He looked around the room and he found a light brown colored briefcase that was on the ground next to the nightstand. A pretty nice one that must have cost some money as the material felt like leather, but it was a simple design that was nothing too fancy thankfully. He couldn't keep Ms. von Karma waiting, so he would check the contents of what's in it later. He grabbed it and headed back to the living room where the German prosecutor was waiting.
"I'm ready now." He said as he greeted her.
"Very well, let's head out." She said with a nod.
Franziska moved to the front door and he followed her out. He shut the door behind him and locked it; putting the house key away back into his pocket.
"Nick, I was wondering, where is your car?" Franziska was looking around at the road in front of his house.
"Huh? Oh umm..."
What did Gumshoe say to him last night again? He scratched his forehead with his left hand as he tried to remember as a lot of last night was filtered through a haze. He dropped his left hand to his side immediately when the memory finally came to him.
"Detective Gumshoe said something about it being in the shop right now." He finally answered.
"The detective told you this? Don't tell me, you forgot about that." She said with a single raised brow.
"Hey don't blame me, it's not my fault I have amnesia!" He lied defensively.
The lady prosecutor just sighed, "No what I meant was, what were you thinking? You clearly were working late last night, meaning you dropped your car off at the shop on your way to work yesterday. How exactly were you planning on getting home? You're lucky Scruffy happened to stop by."
("So, she calls him Scruffy here too? Guess some things never change.") Phoenix thought to himself but then said out loud, "How should I know what I was planning? I have no memory of it, remember? For all I know maybe I was planning on taking a bus or taxi or made some other arrangements."
The petite woman next to him just rolled her eyes at him. He stopped following her, however, when he noticed something strange about the house. From what he could tell of the short time he was in the house, there was no garage to the back of the house. He would have expected there to be either a side or front garage then, with a driveway that leads to it. Except it has none of that. It looked especially out of place as both houses on either side of it had side garages. He turned to look at the house directly across the street and it had a front garage. A house without a garage? He supposed those can exist but they weren't exactly common. It would make sense in his own world if he owned a house to not have one as he doesn't have a car or driver's license. But the other Phoenix here had both a car and driver's license.
"Phoenix, why are you dawdling?" Franziska finally noticed he wasn't directly next to her.
"It's just...that's odd." He answered.
She walked back towards him, "What's odd?"
"This house—I mean, my house...how come it doesn't have a garage?" He inquired.
Phoenix wondered if he just asked either a bad question or a stupid one. She gave him the weirdest look. Then he noticed her strange expression morphed into something like pity.
"Did I...say something wrong?" He asked hesitantly.
"No, it's—" She let out a heavy sigh, "I see. You forgot about that too."
("Forgot about...what?")
"It's for the best I suppose, not having that trouble you." She practically whispered before turning her heels to head back to her car.
"Hey, hold up!" He followed after her, ("Just what the heck did she mean by that, and why is she being so cryptic all of a sudden?")
They finally made it over to the detention center. Phoenix knew he had to find a way to get away from Ms. von Karma for at least a couple of minutes so he could properly talk to Mia and figure out what's going on...but how to go about it?
Thankfully, he found himself lucky for once. The opportunity found itself on its own. Miles Edgeworth was about to head into the detention center. Franziska von Karma naturally zeroed in on him.
The first thing he noticed was that Miles was dressed in a regular business suit, but naturally in his usual red. Instead of a cravat as he would expect, there was instead a blue tie in its place. His hair was styled the same and just like in his universe, this Miles Edgeworth was also wearing glasses that couldn't help but make him look a lot like his father. His jacket was buttoned up all the way but it was a lower cut so he could still see a little bit of the dark gray vest that was underneath the jacket, with his tie tucked into the vest. What also was different was the attorney badge pinned to the lapel of his suit...it was surreal to see him wearing one of those.
He noticed immediately the haughty expression on Franziska von Karma's face, coupled with the glare of contempt on Miles Edgeworth's face.
("Oh boy...this isn't going to be pretty.")
"Look brother, a foolishly foolish rat came crawling out of his hole. Oh, I see he brought his foolish little fool of a mouse with him."
Phoenix resisted the urge to tell her to try and be politer; rivalry or no rivalry, this was just plain disrespectful as Edgeworth had just lost his father. He had no idea how the other Phoenix would have handled his sister. Franziska did mention he didn't take too kindly to her trying to "tame" him as children but that didn't exactly paint a picture of how he should behave around her to not raise suspicion. Still he also didn't want to call her out and cause a scene; especially if that's not how the other Phoenix would behave. It's one thing if it's just him and Franziska, but now he's in public around others who would definitely notice if he's behaving differently from his counterpart.
He sighed to himself as he was actually starting to get used to the idea of being in some other world, though a part of him still was in denial and insisting this was just a dream.
It was then Phoenix noticed none other than Maya hiding behind Edgeworth (Maya didn't help her case against the rodent accusation as she squeaked the moment Ms. von Karma addressed the spirit medium).
She was dressed differently but her hair for the most part was styled the same. It still had those two long strands of hair with beads dangling near the end and a small topknot bun at the top of her head. Except normally Maya would have her hair long and lose, tying it only at the end—not exactly a ponytail. Here, it was tied higher instead. Just at the base of the back of her neck—a true low ponytail, with her long hair flowing freely out of the hair tie. She was also dressed up in spirit medium garb, but it was instead an outfit that reminded him of the outfit Iris wore. It had its differences but it was very similar to hers. The main dress was a deep blue, but the sleeves were a much lighter shade of blue. The sash around her waist and tied into a bow at her side was long and colored purple. Just like the Maya from his world, she had obviously been training long and hard to take her place as the head of the Fey clan like her mother before her. He counted three beads on each side of the magatama around her neck. If what he remembered what Maya told him correctly, then this Maya had developed into a powerful medium going by what the beads represent.
He felt a pang of possessiveness he squashed down.
This wasn't his universe, so this isn't his Maya or his Mia and he's not a defense attorney—but he still couldn't help but feel this way. It felt wrong seeing Edgeworth in his shoes, side by side with Maya, and what Franziska told him earlier, he also had been practicing law with Mia for years. He couldn't help but feel jealous.
Though that was selfish of him. Now wasn't the time for that, especially considering what Edgeworth and Mia are going through right now.
"Wright, I thought I told you last time to keep your dog on her leash." Edgeworth finally spoke up.
Phoenix's jaw dropped probably a good couple of inches. He immediately took three steps backwards. He could not believe what he just heard. Edgeworth must have lost his mind. He actually called Franziska von Karma of all people, a dog! Franziska did egg him on but still...did he have a death wish or something? This was Franziska von Karma! No one would dare to have the balls to talk to her like that and get away with it!
The young female prosecutor narrowed her eyes dangerously; Edgeworth's glare then matched hers. The saying "between a rock and a hard place" didn't even come close to describing what he felt standing right there.
("Oh no...")
Phoenix could feel himself sweating on the back of his neck. The tension between Franziska von Karma and Miles Edgeworth was suffocating.
Sure enough, his "sister" erupted exactly as expected. While leaving Maya and Edgeworth at Franziska von Karma's fury (and stinging whip crazy antics) didn't sit well with him, this was the chance he was looking for. He snuck away into the detention center. He needed to talk to Mia.
Some guards saluted him, which felt odd to him, but he just nodded and made his way through. It was surreal that he didn't need to wait around. Just flashing his badge and saying who he needed to see and the guard called ahead and had it arranged immediately for him.
("Must be nice being a big shot prosecutor and having this luxury all the time...") He mentally grumbled.
He sat down in the chair and waited for the guard to bring her in. The door creaked open, and he caught a glimpse of her.
Her bangs were styled the same, but her hair was much shorter. It barely touched her shoulders and was cut in that bob-cut hairstyle. She had on a stylish, somewhat form-fitting business jacket that was a navy-blue color and unbuttoned. Her black shirt was form-fitting and her usual low cut, showing some cleavage. (He thankfully had the sense to not keep his eyes lingering there, he didn't have a death wish.) Her dress pants were also navy-blue, matching with her jacket. They hugged her waist, fitting her curves perfectly, but the pants were fitted looser around her ankles. Sort of like bell bottom jeans but nowhere near as dramatic, a more understated bell bottom cut. Her shoes were black high heeled boots. He did notice three familiar objects on her person though. First, he noticed the long yellow scarf she had tied around her neck. Next, he noticed her necklace which had a single magatama bead. Lastly, he saw her defense attorney badge that was pinned to the lapel of her stylish jacket.
An old feeling he thought he let go of years ago had started to resurface, but he smacked them back down. But it was such an amazing experience to see her again, one that was hard to even put into words. She'd been dead for so long but not here, she was actually here. Not being channeled through someone else, but it was really her! It was really Mia Fey! Flesh, blood and everything with it! She was really here!
As she started to approach the chair on the other side of the glass, across from him, an unpleasant emotion emerged and ruined his happier feelings. Very suddenly panic slapped him in the face like a wet fish. He had absolutely no idea what to say.
This wasn't his Chief, his mentor, his hero. The Mia Fey he knew personally and aspired to live up to her name and example. The Mia who meant everything to him. The one who always seemed to have the answers to every question and steered him back when he became lost.
What was he to say to this completely different version of Mia Fey who had a life completely different from the one he knew? How would he act around her? He had no inkling of an idea what the Phoenix Wright or von Karma or whatever he wants to call himself is like! He didn't exactly have anything to go off of from what little stuff he learned from Franziska!
("I'm so stupid. I just charged forward without even thinking as usual. Why do I do this to myself? There is a reason they say 'Look before you leap,' because that saying was obviously created for morons like me who just jump the first chance they get not realizing their next step LEAD THEM OFF A CLIFF!") He mentally screamed.
If the guard and Mia wasn't present he would have ripped his hair right out of his spiky head.
He gulped as she sat down. Mia stared at him with an indifference that really unsettled him. And maybe it was his imagination but the air felt a bit chilly.
"So, the famous Prosecutor Wright has actually come down from on high to grace me with his presence?" She said far too sweetly for it to be sincere.
He felt himself gulping again. Yep...he definitely had no idea what he was going to say. He knew he had to get to the bottom of what really happened but he didn't exactly come in with a strategy.
What was he thinking? Must he always fly by the seat of his pants with no plan?
"I—uhh...?" He sounded so awkward.
She stared at him, obviously confused at his behavior. She crossed her arms and tapped her right index finger against her left elbow.
"Yes, Mr. Wright?" She questioned apathetically.
"So, could you—um...that is uh—could you tell me about what happened—umm...please?" He internally winced at that sorry excuse of a question.
"Please?" She rose a single brow at him.
He could feel his cheeks burning. He couldn't look at her, so in his shame he decided he'd much rather make eye contact with the wall to his left. Instead of sounding like a seasoned lawyer with years of experience, he performed like a bungling amateur who hadn't a clue.
("Did I actually say that?! How embarrassing, could I be any more of a twit?!")
"This is quite a different strategy for you, Mr. Wright." Mia said sarcastically.
"I um—yes..." He cleared his throat and tried to straighten his posture.
He's supposed to be a big-time prosecutor here, not some bumbling defense attorney. He should try a better attempt at this.
"Could you explain to me what happened Ch—" He caught himself, he just nearly called her Chief, "I uh—Ms. Fey."
He externally winced this time. It was such a pathetic recovery attempt. He hated being so out of his element.
"You're acting strange Mr. Wright, are you sure you're feeling well?" She asked.
"I'm fine!" He insisted a little too quickly.
He needed to calm down. Prosecutors and defense attorneys were both lawyers, just different sides of the law. He may not know how to be this Prosecutor Wright-von Karma—or anything, but he could at least try to be more professional. He knows how to do that at least. He took a deep breath to steel himself. Once he felt himself calm down a bit more he finally felt he could look her in the eyes with more confidence sitting with him.
"Ms. Fey, could you please tell me everything that happened?" He asked, finally sounding more poised.
"I suppose, since you are being polite. But I have to wonder though...why?" There was a hint of skepticism in her tone.
"Why?" He tried not to sound so confused.
"You already have your culprit. What does it matter what I say?" She questioned with narrowed eyes.
Almost as if he was in the court room, on instinct he stood up and slammed his hands on the counter, startling her with his action.
"But you're innocent!" He exclaimed.
It was too late to take back what he just said. He reacted without thinking. He scrambled back in his seat and immediately looked at the floor, embarrassed by his outburst. He couldn't face her shocked expression at the moment. It was silent for about fifteen seconds until he heard her voice again.
"What...what did you say?" Her voice sounded taken aback.
He actually dared to look up and that shocked expression was still on her face. Well, he had no choice but to see it through now that he already bungled that.
"You didn't Chi—I mean—Ms. Fey! You're not the killer!"
"Your people arrested me. You expect me to really believe you think that? Especially after everything your family has done in the past—what you've done to me!" Her expression became extremely guarded, "What's your game?"
What he's done to her? What did she mean by that? What...what did his other self do?
Now he was extremely worried and angry, but not at her but his other self. Granted he had no context but still, just from hearing Mia's tone, her body language around him, and whatever vague incident she's implying...none of it is giving him a good impression on his other self.
No, he couldn't worry about that right now. He shook his head and clenched his fists at his side. He needed her to believe him.
"There is no game!" He asserted desperately.
She still eyed him suspiciously.
"Ms. Fey..." Phoenix murmured dejectedly.
He let out a heavy breath through his nostrils and rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand.
There really wasn't a way he could explain this to her. She probably wouldn't believe him. How could one explain he knew they were innocent because of their shared history in an alternate universe, where in the current one they wouldn't give you a second glance?
Still there was no time for this, Ms. von Karma and Edgeworth are going to notice his disappearance soon. He had to find out what he could and quickly.
"I'm only here to make sure the one who committed the crime is punished. I refuse to let a killer go free." He declared.
"Oh really? Then you'll lose on purpose? What about the precious 'Perfect von Karma Family' record?" She said with a silent snort.
He rose from his seat again and passionately slammed both hands against the counter like he does in the courtroom out of instinct once more. It wasn't Mia's fault but just thinking about the lengths Manfred von Karma went and everything he had done? He was absolutely livid, it made his blood boil.
"SCREW HIS PRECIOUS RECORD!" Phoenix practically yelled at the top of his lungs.
Phoenix thought a blood vessel would pop from how loud he was. His most recent outburst startled her far more than the last. He sheepishly sat back down and forced himself to be calm.
"Um—uh—I..." He struggled to recover himself.
There was a pregnant pause as he avoided eye contact with her. Just blinking and staring at anything in the room except her eyes. How on Earth do you explain the adopted son who—from what little he knows from what Franziska told him—was taken in with open arms by the von Karma's after a traumatic death of his family, suddenly has this irrational anger against his own adoptive "father". He still had very little context of the full story, heck he had the bare minimum of context. But still, he couldn't blame Mia for staring at him as if he'd spontaneously grown a butt on his forehead.
He really needed to work on trying to not be defense attorney Phoenix Wright.
"Who are you?" She asked skeptically again.
Mia's question caught him off guard. But he can't back down. The Mia Fey he knew would not stand for that. He needed to get a hold of himself.
He steeled himself once more as he looked her straight in the eyes with one of his trademark determined expressions that he became famous for in the courtroom. Then he inhaled a deep breath through his nose before exhaling, letting his tension escape.
"The Phoenix Wright you thought you knew Ms. Fey—he's gone..." Well that technically wasn't a lie, he placed a hand over the unfamiliar prosecutor badge that was pinned to his lapel, "Let's just say I woke up and realized the truth. It will be hard, but I will do my best to aide you as much as I can. I have a role people expect me to play still. But you're innocent Ms. Fey. I will do everything in my power to help you!"
She just stared at him, silent and unsure, but then a small smile appeared.
"How odd...you're almost starting to talk like a defense attorney." Mia said with a slight mix of curiosity and amusement.
She did not phrase it like a question but he couldn't help but feel there was a hint of question in her statement. He shifted nervously at her comment.
His Mia Fey really was sometimes just too perceptive for her own good; this Mia Fey was probably just like her in that regard and that was cause for concern. It's not that he doesn't trust Mia, (well...the Mia he knew anyway) he just wasn't ready or even sure he wanted anyone to know the truth—it was hard to believe enough as it is. He still wasn't one hundred percent certain he wasn't just dreaming or going crazy.
But he really needed to work on this whole behaving like a prosecutor thing. He'd so far done a lousy job at it. He didn't even want to imagine how he'll be in court if he continued like this.
"Why would you want to help me though?" She asked with genuine sincerity this time.
Phoenix let out a sluggish breath. They were back to this again, were they?
Although he couldn't exactly explain why. It was too unreal. He wouldn't believe himself if he wasn't currently experiencing this...actually he still couldn't fully believe this. And yet the denial was starting to appear ridiculous, as well as redundant at this point.
"I told you—you're innocent." He reaffirmed.
"And...?" She said while she gave him a tone of doubt again.
"And?" He repeated and just blinked with a puzzled expression.
And? What did she mean "And...?". What other reasons did she need?
("Oh...right...I'm supposed to be a prosecutor, one raised by Manfred von Karma. Ugh...that thought alone still gives me shivers.") He thought with internal disgust.
She'd obviously need more convincing.
("So...what would my universe's version of Miles Edgeworth say? He's a big shot prosecutor after all...come on, think Phoenix! He's been your friend for years, you should be able to think of whatever eloquent jargon Edgeworth spills out of his mouth.")
"It's..."
He tried his best to put himself in Edgeworth's shoes. Thinking like a prosecutor when you are anything but a prosecutor was harder than he thought it would be.
"It's the most...logical." He eventually decided to try to come up with some kind of explanation.
"Logical?" She gave him a puzzled look.
"Well yeah? I mean what are the facts?" He asked.
Phoenix then mimicked the exact way he remembered Edgeworth would cross his arms and tap his right index finger against his arm.
"Gregory Edgeworth was your mentor and someone you greatly respected, I would imagine. Strike one, you killing him doesn't make sense. You have no motive as far as I can see. Then we have to consider your personality, your background, and your personal life. Strike two, everything you are and have done up until now—as well as your upbringing as far as I know—doesn't paint a picture of someone who would become a cold-blooded killer." He explained.
He then copied that same stupid smirk combined with the stupid finger wag before tapping said index finger on his forehead—that stupid thing Edgeworth does.
"Lastly, Gregory Edgeworth is the father of Miles Edgeworth. Strike three, there is no way someone like Miles Edgeworth would defend his father's murderer if she was guilty. It doesn't add up with the facts. You can't be the one who did it." He asserted confidently.
Not quite how his world's version of Miles Edgeworth would have worded it but Phoenix hoped he at least sounded as convincing as Edgeworth to her.
This world's version of Mia was still frowning and before he could stop himself he ended up opening his big dumb mouth again.
"You shouldn't make a face like that Ms. Fey. For your sake and for your sister's sake, you need to keep smiling, no matter how bad it looks! Smile till the bitter end!"
She mirrored her previously surprised expression and he wanted to smack himself. He accidentally repeated what Mia has told him when he felt a situation was hopeless. He couldn't help it; his instincts just took over again.
("That's not going to look suspicious AT ALL! Way to go Wright, when will you learn to quit while you're ahead!?")
Unbeknownst to Phoenix who had still been too busy kicking himself, Mia smiled a much softer but understanding smile.
"So, it seems you are still the same a bit deep down after all. I guess Miles and Apollo were right about you...I was almost ready to give up hope on you." She whispered faintly.
Phoenix heard her mumble something to herself but he didn't catch it, all he heard out of that was "hope" but that was it.
"Did you say something, Ms. Fey?" He asked, slightly anxious.
He hoped he didn't have to try to do any more convincing again. He needed some answers.
"It's nothing important, Mr. Wright...I'll tell you everything that I can recall." Mia said.
Phoenix sighed a breath of relief and grinned, "Thanks Ms. Fey."
Mia retold everything she could remember before and after the murder. And after hearing the story...Mia was definitely framed.
Mia came back to work in the middle of the night to pick up some case files she was going to need for an upcoming case. She discovered the office a huge mess, a major disaster. Several windows were broken, everything was in disarray, papers were everywhere, furniture was moved or turned over. Files were all over the place. Her plant, Charley, was knocked over. She rushed in, trying to figure out what happened. Her immediate suspicion was that they were robbed. She only made barely past the doorway into the next room—the room that was Gregory Edgeworth's office—but then she felt a large and sharp pain slamming against the lower back of her head, just barely above her neck. Someone struck her from behind and she passed out. When she woke up, the police told her Mr. Edgeworth was murdered, pushed out the window to his death, and she was placed under arrest. Apparently, they found evidence that incriminated her.
Just when he was about to ask what that supposed incriminating evidence was, the door suddenly busted open. Edgeworth stood there, definitely not looking happy. Trailing behind him was a fuming Maya; her face was turning red and her cheeks were puffing out like a balloon.
"Unbelievable! Totally Unbelievable! You—You...YOU BIG FAT JERK! I can't believe you used your own sister to distract us, just so you could sneak in here and trick my big sister into making a false confession I bet!" Maya accused heatedly.
"Sicking Ms. von Karma on us like a crazed canine is not exactly what I would call a distraction, Maya." Edgeworth said as he straightened his tie.
Phoenix sighed and shook his head, he hoped he'd have more time with Mia. Oh well, now was a good time as any to practice with better effort at pretending to be a prosecutor.
He did his best to impersonate the smarmiest smirk he committed to memory. An arrogant smirk—he remembered more than anything how much he hated it when first seeing Miles Edgeworth in court. It was kind of ironic he was directing it at this version of Edgeworth. He even repeated the same stupid finger wag with it too at Edgeworth.
"Now Edgeworth, that's rude. Comparing a young lady to an animal? Deplorable—it's no wonder she had to discipline you on your manners." He did his best impersonation of the smarmy tone Edgeworth had back then too.
He noticed Miles's left eyebrow was twitching. Apparently, he could pull off a decent "prosecutor so patronizing you want to punch their teeth out" impersonation. He wasn't sure yet if he should be proud or disappointed at that. Regardless if he ever gets back to his universe maybe he should thank Edgeworth for being such a tool years ago.
"Discipline you say—?"
Whatever Edgeworth was about to say, he was cut off by Maya.
"While it's true Miley has no manners when addressing a lady..."
("Did she just call him Miley?!") Phoenix felt himself do a double-take.
"Hey Maya whose side are you—" Edgeworth tried protesting Maya's statements, but she nudged him for that and continued.
"But she also assaulted my delicate self! I'm a lady too! I didn't do anything wrong and now I'll be stinging for days because Miley doesn't know how to behave properly around girls!"
("She...she did just call him Miley.") He was in utter disbelief.
"Tch—throw me under the bus?" Edgeworth grumbled.
The slight pang of jealousy returned seeing Maya behaving with Edgeworth the same as the Maya Fey of his world was around him, but he ignored it. He was still trying to process her nickname for Edgeworth. Nick was a normal nickname for anyone, it wasn't the least bit embarrassing. Miley on the other hand...how the heck did he not die from shame hearing her call him that in public?
The attention however was now on Maya, and to be perfectly honest he couldn't bring himself to do it. He just couldn't bring himself to be a jerk to her. Yeah Edgeworth was a friend too, but here they are supposed to be rivals only, at least he assumed they were. Edgeworth almost seemed just as "happy" to see him as Franziska. He had to keep up an act, he didn't want to raise suspicion. But Maya? She was practically like a little sister to him, and he certainly wasn't going to antagonize her for the heck of it or to keep up pretenses. He just couldn't bring himself to do it.
He supposed he had to make something up on the fly in order to keep up with this whole prosecutor image when addressing Maya in that moment.
"Ah—the younger Ms. Fey. I do apologize for Franziska's behavior against you. You are right, while Edgeworth was indeed an ill-mannered brute around her, you had done nothing against her that was worthy of punishment. I give you my word as her older brother I will have a talk with her that she should only punish those who deserve it." He said with a polite bow.
("Where the heck did that come from?!")
He was just winging it; this whole pretend Prosecutor von Karma-Wright—whatever the hell his name is—image. However, he had no idea where this came from or where he was going with it. He needed to make this stupid persona and this conversation end quickly because he was three seconds from blushing twenty-three different shades of red and running out of there in humiliation. This was so beyond not him.
He took a quick breath to mentally calm his nerves. He was already knee-deep in the water; he may as well jump in. He was never one to not see something through, though this still felt so weird...and dumb...and embarrassing.
"Ms. Fey, as an apology for my sister's behavior towards you, I want you to have this." He smiled as charming as possible while he pulled a couple of twenty dollar bills out of his wallet and placed them into Maya's left hand, "Go get yourself as much burger ramen as you like, my treat."
"WHAAAAA—?!" Maya exclaimed, "I can REALLY have as much as I like?!"
Phoenix nodded in response, and she let out a tiny squeak of delight. Her eyes were practically glittering. The spirit medium then proceeded to jump up and down as she yanked Edgeworth's left arm in excitement (nearly pulling the thing out of its socket too).
He couldn't help but feel envious again seeing this. It was funny considering he was there yesterday as far as he could remember...but he already missed his home a lot. Especially his cheerful crazy assistant and one of his closest friends. And even if it's only been about a day since he was home in his alternate reality, he hadn't heard from Maya in several months. She was very busy training and preparing herself to take on the role that once belonged to her mother. But regardless of that, she quickly became the closest thing he imagined to what it was like to having a little sister. Phoenix couldn't help but wonder how his universe's Maya Fey was doing.
He shoved those thoughts down, they weren't helping him or his situation now. He cleared his throat and waved off Mia and Maya.
"I bid you ladies farewell...oh and Edgeworth?" He said in an obnoxiously cheerful tone.
Edgeworth was glaring at him...he wondered if this was exactly how Edgeworth felt when he messed with Phoenix himself in court. He had it admit a part of him did find it mildly entertaining.
"What?" Edgeworth was barely keeping a lid on his annoyance.
"You might want to clean up your face, it seems your nose is bleeding." Phoenix pointed out.
Edgeworth scrambled to get a tissue from his pocket and cursed Franziska's name while Phoenix turned to head out the door. Phoenix however stopped himself. The guilt was gnawing at him. He couldn't do this. He couldn't keep being so insensitive to Edgeworth. A part of him indeed got mild amusement out of some tiny juvenile crevice that would have loved to get back at the old jerk version of Miles Edgeworth, but this man wasn't that same Edgeworth. And even his universe's Edgeworth wasn't even that same Edgeworth anymore for years now. True the major reason he's doing this is to try and keep up appearances without casting suspicion on why he's so different from this other Phoenix. He had to keep up with this image he supposed until he figured out just how the hell he got there, and hopefully find a way home.
But Phoenix could feel the guilt clawing inside him, the sickness sitting in his chest feeling like something was gnawing around his insides literally. He just couldn't do this now, his conscious wouldn't allow anymore of this. Here in this world, Edgeworth had very recently lost his father. He didn't care if this Edgeworth hated him here, he can keep up his appearances in court tomorrow. At the very least they also used to be childhood friends in this alternate reality too. He hoped the other Phoenix—even if they became estranged—would have the decency to give his condolences to an old friend. And if he didn't then he didn't give a damn because he sure is hell wouldn't be that kind of person!
"Did you need anything else, Wright?"
Phoenix still had his back towards him so he couldn't see Edgeworth's face, but he could hear the thinly-veiled antagonistic tone in his voice.
Phoenix rested his right hand against the door frame as he let out another heavy exhale through his nose.
"Edgeworth..." He dropped the fake haughty persona entirely and made certain his tone was completely sincere and sober, "I understand this is a difficult time...I'm sorry about...I'm sorry about your dad."
The room was extremely quiet. He couldn't even hear anything except his own breathing. Phoenix finally dared to turn around and he wondered if he just sprung extra limbs from the complete shock on Edgeworth's and Maya's face, especially Edgeworth's.
"You're sorry?" Edgeworth said with quiet disbelief.
His shocked expression then morphed into complete animosity, he moved so quickly Phoenix had barely any time to react. He sprinted forward, grabbed Phoenix by the collar and shoved him hard against the wall; the back of his head smacked the wall pretty strongly too, he was definitely going to be getting a small knot there.
"Miles!" Mia exclaimed from the other side of the glass.
Phoenix was taken aback, not just by this action but because this was Miles Edgeworth. Even when Edgeworth got angry he never lost his cool like this. Between himself, Miles, and Larry...even as children, Miles was always the one who had better control of his emotions.
"You?! You're SORRY?!" He repeated with more ire.
"Miley, what are you doing?!" Maya ran forward but stopped in her tracks when Edgeworth turned his head to give his fiery glare towards her.
"No! I want to hear his excuse!" He then turned back to fix his glare on Phoenix again, "So out with it, Wright!"
His glare was actually pretty terrifying. Phoenix had to force himself to not let a shiver crawl up his spine from the mere sight of it.
"Out with wha—" Before Phoenix could finish that question Edgeworth cut him off, shoving him against the wall again making him smack that same spot on the back of his head even harder.
"Don't play dumb with me, Wright! If you're truly sorry, then tell me why! Why did your men arrest Mia?! You know damn well she would never do this! Why are your men not putting in more effort to find my father's real killer?! Doesn't he deserve justice, Wright?! You are always so big on bringing criminals to justice after all!"
Phoenix was momentarily rendered speechless as he just dumbly stared at Edgeworth wide-eyed and mouth gaping like the clueless attorney he is. He'd never seen Edgeworth express this much emotion to such an extent. That only caused Phoenix to have his expression to morph into sympathy knowing what he was going through; which he could tell threw Edgeworth off a bit...not that he was letting go of his grip on Phoenix's collar.
"You know better than that Edgeworth." Phoenix finally found his voice, "The police have to build a case on the evidence and testimony they find, if it points strongly to an individual, they will arrest them."
"So—you'll just blindly accept whatever they throw at you?!" Edgeworth hissed through clenched teeth.
Phoenix let out a light sigh. He felt a bittersweet smile curl onto his lips however when he remembered something important a certain rival and old friend once said to him and Franziska after the Matt Engarde trial. Perhaps this version of Miles Edgeworth needed to hear these words just as much as Phoenix did.
"There is only one thing that should matter in court. And that thing is the truth. The truth will always find a way to make itself known. All we can do is to fight with the knowledge we hold and everything we have. Erasing the contradictions and connecting the missing pieces one by one, it's never easy. We scratch and claw for every inch. But we always eventually reach that one single truth." Phoenix paraphrased from memory.
It seemed what he said partly got through to Edgeworth; while he didn't let go he felt his grip loosen a little bit, and his expression—it was still anger radiating off him—but he could see the tension ease up slightly in his face.
"We both have jobs to do, and while they are on different sides of the courtroom, our goals are the same." Phoenix said with a more confident smile.
"Really?" Edgeworth scoffed.
"I want the truth, and so do you, don't you? If Ms. Fey is guilty, then the truth will be revealed in court...but if she's truly innocent, then it's the truth. Our jobs are to reveal the truth. If you are so convinced of her innocence then fight to the bitter end and prove she isn't guilty. That is your duty as her defense attorney." He answered undauntedly.
Now Edgeworth was struck speechless, he still didn't let go but his anger seemed to finally leave his countenance.
Unfortunately, Phoenix could hear Franziska's voice getting closer as she barked several orders at the personnel. He turned towards the open doorway and sure enough Franziska eventually made eye contact and took in their positions. Her face transformed into pure, raw fury. She looked even scarier than Edgeworth. He didn't fight a shiver to crawl up his spine that time.
"Unhand him at once, Miles Edgeworth!" She screamed.
She whirled her whip to strike Edgeworth but thanks to Edgeworth's loosened grip, Phoenix easily pushed him away. That sadly meant the whip stung against his left arm but it was a necessary evil because he wasn't going to have Edgeworth dragged into this.
"What? Phoenix? Why did you—" Franziska was completely thrown off guard, "You foolish brother, why did you do that? You are not my target!"
"That's enough, it's the defense's time to speak with the defendant so let's just go investigate the crime scene and come back later to interview Ms. Fey." Phoenix urged politely as possible, he didn't want to deal with an irate Franziska at the moment (or ever if he could help it).
"I believe we are the ones who get to decide who can speak with her first! Us! The prosecution! Not them! And you are seriously going to ignore that foolish Miles Edgeworth was assaulting you?!" She then turned out to the hallway, "Guards! You incompetent FOOLS! Foolishly foolhardy foolish fools! You allowed an esteemed prosecutor to be assaulted on your foolishly foolish watch! I'll make certain EVERY last one of you fools gets a painful evaluation at the end of the month!"
("I see...she's the overbearing—overprotective type of little sister it seems. Lucky me...") He resisted the urge to roll his eyes or slap his forehead.
"Sister, that's enough!" He felt extremely weird calling her that, but he needed to get her to listen to him, "I'm alright! It was nothing to worry over. Let's just go and come back later, okay? You said yourself this morning you wanted to get to every scrap of evidence first, so let's go do that."
She frowned up at him then tilted her head to face Edgeworth where she glared something fierce at him. She stepped closer to Phoenix and even slightly in front of him, extending her right hand out as she gripped the handle of her whip tightly. Phoenix realized she was actively trying to shelter him from Edgeworth. That was just too weird for him to process.
"He still must be punished for his behavior! No one dares to lay a hand on one of us!" She declared with a vengeful twinge in her eyes.
He quietly groaned and quickly rolled his eyes before anyone could see it. He placed his left hand on her right hand and gently pushed it down. The short German prosecutor immediately tilted her head up towards him, eyeing him with confusion.
"Go easy on him—"
Franziska cut him off, her tone incredulous, "Go EASY on him?! Did you hit your head or something?!"
("Well...yeah, actually...but that's not the point.") He thought while rubbing the back of his head where a tiny bump had in fact started to form.
He shook his head and placed his other hand on her shoulder. He then leaned down towards her ear.
"Can't you cut him a break just this once, at least for now? His father was just killed." He whispered.
Franziska made a very tiny gasp that he barely heard it. She looked at him, then at Edgeworth, the two Fey sisters, then back at him. She huffed as she pursed her lips. There was a small glimpse of pity there, but she masked it quickly with a look of vexation. She crossed her arms and quietly grumbled.
"Fine, have it your way." She said with an expression that was a weird mix between a scary glare and an adorable pout, he wasn't sure how she accomplished that contradiction.
Franziska wrapped her whip back and put it away, he was grateful that being over at least.
"We're leaving brother." Franziska walked out without a second glance.
He gave everyone a forced smile and awkward wave before following her out and shutting the door behind him.
Miles Edgeworth had no idea how to process everything that had been happening these past two days. He promised himself he wouldn't lose control of his emotions, especially in public. But it seemed even he had his limits. He needed to be more careful, he was no good like this.
"Are you okay, Miley?" Maya asked next to him with evident concern.
"Yes, I'm alright now, forgive me. I was out of line, and I caused you both to worry." He apologized.
Mia just smiled at him from the other side of the glass while Maya cheerfully pat him on the back.
"Apology accepted, just don't fly off the handle like that again! You had a really scary look in your eye! Plus—I thought Franziska von Karma was gonna tear you a new one when she saw you pinning her brother against the wall!" Maya exclaimed.
"Maya has a point there, you should be more careful Miles. I can't have my attorney getting arrested for assault." Mia teased lightly with a bittersweet smile.
Despite her predicament, Mia was trying to lighten his mood as well as hers. Maya was also trying to do her best to cheer him up as well. He was grateful he had these two in his life, especially now...he didn't even want to think how he'd deal with it if he was alone in facing his father's death.
But more pressing matters was Phoenix Wright. He was behaving...rather off.
Even when he was being condescending towards him, there was something slightly different about it, he couldn't place it. Then he suddenly dropped it completely and showed a sincerity from him he hadn't seen in years. Did he dare hope that he was seeing glimpses of his old friend underneath all those frilly cravats and hot air that Manfred von Karma brainwashed him into? Or was this a trick? He couldn't say for certain...but something was definitely different about him. He almost wished he had either Apollo or Athena with him today instead of Maya. Not that he would ever deprive Maya of checking on Mia, but having Athena or Apollo around would be a huge help. He could easily have either of them tell him if Wright was just trying to trick him.
"Wright was acting a bit strange. What was his angle?" He asked out loud as he sat in the chair across from Mia.
"Who cares?! Look at all the burgers and burger ramen we can buy with this, he should act strange more often! Just no more pinning him to walls or else I won't get more money for burgers and burger ramen!" Maya said playfully.
He snorted but managed to smile at her jest.
"Ah-ha! There he is! See sis! I knew we would be able to find his smile!" The spirit medium giggled.
"That you did Maya. Good job. I know I can always count on you." Mia nodded.
"Oh yeah sis—what did Mr. Wright say to you?" Maya asked.
Mia just smiled. It was her usual cheerful, warm smile he always had been accustomed too except there was that hint of...something cryptic about it.
"Maybe he'll tell you eventually." She said in a light playful tone.
("What?! Mia, what are you saying?!")
Mia wasn't telling him what Wright said? His alarm bells went off. Why would Mia not tell him? What was the man up to?! No, that wasn't right. Even Phoenix Wright wouldn't go as far as Manfred von Karma to get a confession...and nothing in Mia's behavior hinted at anything that should be worrying. She seemed far calmer and even in higher spirits compared to when he last saw her yesterday.
"Whaaa—come on sis! No fair! Tell us!" Maya whined.
"I can't spoil the surprise, Maya."
"Mr. Wright got us a present?! Is it more burger ramen?!"
As Maya continued gabbing, Miles just observed while deep in thought. If it wasn't for the present circumstances, one would almost think Mia wasn't sitting in a police detention center awaiting a trial for a murder she was being accused of.
Every possible scenario he tried to think of didn't seem to fit with what he had been currently observing.
("Just what in the world is Wright up to?")
So the chapter title is a fun meme reference, it technically revolves around the same meme but it's another twofer reference. Now most of you Ace Attorney fans, I'm sure, know right away it's a reference to the awkwardzombie comic "Eat your hamburgers, Apollo" meme. Which yes, it obviously is. However, the secondary reference is actually to the anime. See, the English sub for the second season of the anime, you have Moe the Clown and Maya eating obviously miso ramen. The translators decided to be cheeky and stealth reference the "Eat your hamburgers" meme, but instead of claiming sushi is a hamburger, we have Maya and Moe enthusiastically saying how they love eating this "Burger Ramen" when it's clearly Miso Ramen. My best friend and I were watching the episode and were laughing so hard at that. But yeah, we know in localization that Maya loves burgers so I wanted to keep to that but the Burger Ramen thing was just too darn funny I HAD to add it in.
Speaking of the anime, Funimation, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE when you dub the second season, I'm begging you, keep the stupid burger ramen line! It's too funny to not have it! I will owe you my life if you do! (On that note guys, the first season of the AA Anime is dubbed and out and you can buy it on bluray or amazon or itunes and I highly recommend it! It's actually really good and I've fallen in love with everyone's voices! Eric Vale was especially phenomenal as Phoenix! I've marathoned the dub at least 3 times since it's been out, I'm that in love!)
So yeah…as you can see Franziska and Phoenix, like I said, will be having a veeeery different relationship compared to main canon Miles and Franziska. I'll slowly reveal more of the alternate Phoenix and Franziska's childhood overtime but needless to say, these two were actually RAISED as siblings as opposed to basically rivals, and Phoenix actually was adopted into this family. Again, the answers and backstories will be revealed in due time. But basically Phoenix was raised actually as Manfred's son and not just a student (and scapegoat) like with Miles. I really love exploring the relationship though. Honestly in my planning for this fic since last year, some of my favorite stuff that I sent to my 2 best friends was any planned scenes between Canon!Nick and Franziska and also especially Alternate!Nick and Franziska. It's such a fun what if, and their different sibling interactions GIVE ME LIFE!
Obviously there is also some...interesting...history between Alternate!Phoenix and the alternate versions of Miles and Mia. I can't wait til I slowly start showing that stuff. I also really can't wait to reveal the other alternate versions of characters in this story! Especially how different Edgeworth's law office and life was compared to Phoenix's. Gosh I'm just so giddy you guys have no idea! I can't wait for you guys to see this stuff when we get there!
Eventually when we finally get to the trial I'll add court record stuff at the end of the chapters, I don't want to say anything yet though because I don't want to spoil any plot points. I feel like I should start adding the dates and times too though however, after all unless I state it in story you guys don't have a timeframe when this is. I want to put it more during start of investigations/trial periods similar to the games but I don't want to break the flow of story either so should I make more conscious effort to have it referenced somewhere in the story instead? What do you guys think?
Anyways I want to thank everyone for your support so far! I had no idea I would get such a nice positive response already from my first chapter alone! It really touched me! Like, I've been working on outlining this story for months before I finally decided to publish this, and it means the world to me that all my hard work is paying off already! You guys are great! Keep letting me know what you think and sending me feedback! Scientifically speaking, the more reviews I get the faster it helps me update—no joke, you can ask Ema Skye, this is pure science!
Haha anyways, thanks again everyone! See you next chapter!