A/N: Sorry to interrupt, just wanted to make sure everyone knew that anything written in italics is the thoughts of the person whose current POV it is. It's that same thing as in game when the text is in blue and in parenthesis. That's all for now, enjoy!
XXX
"M-Mr. Nick! W-Where is Mystic Maya!?" The tiny medium wailed, rubbing at her eyes to catch the tears.
Phoenix looked at Pearl, wondering how to answer, or even if he could answer at this point. Maya was with a psychopath holed up in who knows where, and he would rather not think about what situation she could be in; the very thought of her being hurt made it impossible to breathe.
"…She's been kidnapped." He replied, voice choked and hand to his chest, trying to steady his heart.
"Noo! It's all my fault!" She cried. "If only I had gone with Mystic Maya…!"
Phoenix shook his head at the small girl, trying his best not to blame himself as well. "It's not your fault, Pearls."
But Pearl was already convinced, exclaiming her guilt. Will Powers turned to Phoenix, eyes wide and a worried look across his features.
"Mr. Wright…I think we should tell the police what's going on…!" But Nick only shook his head once more.
"No, we can't do that! If we do, who knows what will happen to Maya…"
It was this moment Pearls burst from her tears into a determined look. "Mr. Nick, what about that detective earlier?"
A ray of sunshine glimmered on the defense attorney's once completely lost situation. "Detective Gumshoe! Yes, that's perfect! Wait here until I come back, Pearls."
Powers nodded his assent, promising to take care of Pearl, Nick already halfway to Gumshoe by the time he was done talking. He was a track and field star when it came to Maya for sure, even if he was dying by the time he reached the detective.
"WHHAAAAAAAAAAAT? RAAAAAAAAAAANSOM?!" Gumshoe screeched, causing Phoenix to wince and immediately shush him.
"Not so loud!" He pleaded, before casting a sad glance away from Gumshoe. "…The ransom is full acquittal for Matt Engarde."
"Then that means Matt Engarde is the real killer, pal! No doubt about it!" Gumshoe huffed. Nick gave a hesitant look, however.
"The guy said he was innocent…" Not that he would really believe anything coming out of that psychopath's mouth, but if it helped ease his conscience, he doubted it a bit less.
"You really believe what a KIDNAPPER tells you, pal?"
"No, I guess not…" Well, here comes the guilty conscience again.
"He has a point, though…If Engarde is innocent, why the kidnapping?"
"And on top of everything else," Gumshoe added, gloomy. "There's all this evidence we keep finding. The guys with the eagle eyes are lapping it up like they just caught a huge fish."
"Great…"
"But it's strange, like there's almost too much evidence."
"Didn't that guy say something about Engarde being set up?"
Gumshoe sighed. "Well anyway, looks like you won't be able to leave tonight, pal. Just sit tight with the investigation, and tomorrow you can start yours."
"A-Alright…" But why couldn't there be another way?
"We've also gotta be careful about pushing the kidnapper the wrong way." Nick didn't even want to let the thought cross his mind, but he was constantly reminded of the fact that Maya could leave this world if he wasn't cautious.
Dejectedly, he returned to Pearl and Powers, waiting to be questioned and released.
XXX
"Oww, my head…"
Maya Fey awoke, a pain in her head and having no idea where she was. Bewildered, she looked about that room, wondering if she was still in the hotel. Further inspection revealed that the door was locked to whatever storage room she was in, and of course, there were no windows to climb out of.
"What happened to me?"
She tried calling out for Nick or Pearl, but was only met with silence. Panic started to settle in, and she sincerely hoped this was some kind of prank.
"C'mon guys, this really isn't funny anymore…"
Suddenly, a man appeared behind her, scaring the bejeebies out of the poor spirit medium.
"I see you have awoken."
"AAAAHHH! W-w-who are you?!" Panic tap danced around her, creating swirling patterns of absolute fright as it went.
"Me? I am known as 'De Killer'." The man replied, formal and poised.
"'De Killer'?! As in an ASSASSIN?!"
"But I'm too young to die!"
"Don't worry, you're not my target…For now, anyway."
It was with these words that the panic bubbled over, sending her into an ultimate state of fear and terror. She began crying, calling for her lover until her voice was hoarse, and stopped almost altogether before uttering a final broken phrase.
"Nick…Help me…"
The man only stood and watched, cool as a cucumber, until he spoke again.
"That's right. There's only one person who can help you know, and that is Mr. Phoenix Wright."
A thrill went through the once defeated girl, and a spark of hope emerged. "Nick…Nick is going to save me…?" The man nodded, still maintaining his formal demeanor.
"Calm down and be a good girl. Just think of it as a business transaction." This wording puzzled Maya. How in the world was a kidnapping anything like giving away money in exchange for something else?
"I'm going to contact him now. I hope you will cooperate and play your assigned role well." The formality of this man was almost staggering considering the situation, but Maya guessed that when you murdered people for a living, kidnapping was like a business transaction.
"What's going to happen to me? Nick…Pearly…" Then the tears were coming again, Maya struggling to hold them back.
"…Sis, help me…"
The assassin picked up a walkie-talkie and began to speak into it.
"Is this Mr. Phoenix Wright, the attorney?" There was a pause as Nick replied.
"You don't need to know who I am. I think you have other things to be concerned with, such as…"
XXX
He would be kidding himself if he even thought for a moment that sleep was an option.
Sure, he had dressed for bed and all that jazz, but there was no way he was sleeping tonight. Worry ran through him like water through a newly-cleaned pipe. As he tossed and turned, Maya was the only thing occupying his mind. He missed her so much it hurt, and was absolutely terrified of what could happen to her. Was this guy even letting her drink and eat, or even use the bathroom? As crazy as it sounds, these small things troubled him greatly.
After a while of tossing and not a wink of sleep, he decided to give up. He missed her presence from his bed, something he had become so used to. Right now, he just wanted to remember in case his memories were all he had left.
Maya was…god, where did he even begin? Maya was everything. She was the sun when he woke up, shining even more brilliantly than the real thing. She was energetic in to a degree that he didn't even know existed, and she was beautiful to top it off. Every day was an adventure with Maya, whether it was cleaning around the office or taking a trip to the drug store. Her burger-eating habits did seem to empty his wallet quite a bit, but he never denied her such privileges. In a way, it was kind of his thanks for making his life interesting. God knows he would stay holed up in the office if it wasn't for her. In fact, it was one of these expeditions that caused them to get together.
XXX
Maya had decided that if she didn't get out of the office, she would die of boredom, and suggested they take a walk through the park near the law offices. Having been sitting in the same position for so long, Nick wasn't opposed to it, and in a matter of minutes they were off.
It was a nice day in L.A., perfect for a walk, and Phoenix inwardly praised Maya for the choice. They strolled through until they reached a park bench, and sat down to enjoy the scenery.
"Nick," Maya had said with her serious face on. "You really need to stay out of that office! It's not like we get clients pouring in every second. It's more of a tiny trickle."
"A trickle? More like a dry riverbed…" Nick muttered. "I guess since we don't have that many clients and it's warm out, we can spend more time out of the office…" Maya cheered, trumpeting her excitement.
"Oh I know! Let's go see a movie sometime, there's a new Nickel Samurai movie coming out." As soon as she said "Nickel Samurai" Nick knew he had no choice, plans or not.
"Alright, pick a day." They fell into comfortable silence for a bit, enjoying the fresh air, before Maya spoke again.
"Hey Nick?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's say you wanted to date a girl…" She received raised eyebrows for this. "If she was younger than you by, say, five to seven years, would you still go for it?"
"I don't know exactly where you're going with this, but…no, it wouldn't bother me that much. Love knows no boundaries, and all of that."
"Ah! You're into Lolita then!" And then boom goes the dynamite.
"W-what?!" With a teasing smile, she took off, leaving the defense attorney to cough on her dust before chasing after her.
As fast as Maya could be, she eventually ran out of juice, and he took this to his advantage, tackling her and pinning her to the ground. She didn't fight him, and he didn't press. They were too busy wondering why neither had moved and why they were both were okay with it. No words were spoken in fear that whatever magic it was that had caused this would be broken.
Finally, Nick leaned in, and Maya followed suit.
XXX
A/N:
Ugh it's 12:22 and I have a headache. '-_-
Sorry this one took forever, and to top it off it's shorter than I normally intended, but hey! That means maybe I'll overdo it on the next chapter. I've been missing due to many migraines, vacations homework, and all that jazz. But I should be back for good this time, I hope.
Also, I'm wondering if maybe I should put this on hiatus so I can pre-write the chapters so you guys can have regular updates. I know you'll have to wait quite a bit since we've gotten basically nowhere and it's already the third chapter, but I want to squeeze in as much detail as possible while adding in my own spin on it. But after this there should be a lot more plot development, so no worries. Please pm me or let me know in your review if it's okay to put this on hiatus for a while.
Anyway, I will go now before the author's note becomes as long as the story!
Ciao!
xxCherryxx
