Disclaimer: This story contains spoilers for every Ace Attorney game released outside of Japan.
Episode 1: The Steel Samurai
Neo Olde Tokyo was a beautiful city. The large majority of it was a technological marvel, combined with traditional Japanese culture and architecture. It was an odd mixture, to say the least, but it contributed greatly to the city's unique identity.
The populated areas were filled to the brim with technology, leaving the more rural areas open to nature. While the populated areas were more taken care of by the companies that ran Neo Olde Tokyo, The rural areas gave more chances for small businesses to flourish. Businesses such as a small, but highly decorated tea shop, adorned with ornaments hanging off the walls, and expensive-looking tea sets that sat behind glass.
The place attracted a myriad of customers, all looking to taste the surprisingly reasonably priced tea. Behind the front counter of the shop, there stood a busy-looking man with unnaturally spiky hair taking people's orders.
"Maya!" He shouted. "We've got more orders!"
A girl from inside the backroom shouted back. "Alright, I got it!"
Phoenix was wearing his typical work uniform, which consisted of a light blue yukata and a white apron. Maya, wearing her purple yukata equivalent, placed cups of tea through the window. "Here you go. I'll get to work on the others."
Phoenix served the tea to his customers and continued waiting for Maya to finish at the front. His eyes couldn't help but be guided over to the door, as he saw a familiar man walk in, and his heart skipped a beat.
Miles Edgeworth was dashing as always, never failing to show up wearing expensive business attire, bangs always slightly fluttering in the wind, Phoenix noticed. Not that he had ever stared long enough to notice or anything.
Edgeworth approached the front counter with a confidence about him that Phoenix couldn't help but admire. "Edgeworth! My, uh, our favorite customer!"
Edgeworth shrugged. "So it would seem, Wright."
Maya stuck her head through the rectangular hole in the wall. "Hey Edgeworth, what's up?" She asked before pulling her head back so she could finish orders.
"Nothing much, I just have some important business to attend to today. Nothing unusual."
"Sounds neat!" Maya responded from the back room.
"So, Edgeworth," Phoenix began, "Your usual?"
"Yes indeed, thank you, Wright."
"Don't worry, I'm already working on it!" Maya said.
"So," Phoenix said, trying to make small talk. "What business do you have planned for today?"
Edgeworth slightly faltered a little before he answered. "I can't really talk about it. Company policy and all."
"Man, being a CEO must be tough." Phoenix remarked, feeling exhausted just by thinking about the workload that must cause.
"There are things about it that are difficult, yes, but like with every occupation, there are different pros and cons." Miles was the CEO of Edgeworth Enterprises, one of the two major companies that essentially ran Neo Olde Tokyo.
"I guess. Working here means I get to keep Maya from eating all the pastries she wants," He leaned in closer, partially covering his mouth, "By secretly eating all the pastries I want."
"I heard that!" Maya shouted from the back room.
Miles laughed a little. Phoenix secretly loved it when he could make him laugh. The man was usually so uptight, not even a smile would shine through. Miles' order was finished, and Phoenix handed it to him. "Well, here you go." He handed the tea to him, a small bit sad since it meant that he would have to leave.
"Thank you, Mr. Wright, and Miss Fey. I will see you both later." Phoenix couldn't help himself as he watched Miles leave. He wished he could talk with Edgeworth more every time he came by, but he was also happy that he could also spend any amount of time with the eternally busy CEO.
"Hey Nick, stop being a lovestruck dork for a minute and come get these orders." Phoenix shook himself out of his scrambled thinking and picked up the tray behind him.
Miles walked into his office and sighed to himself, the tea he had gotten from the Fey Clan Tea Shop being the only thing giving him any sort of comfort. Being a CEO was indeed hard, but his particular position was hard for more reasons than one. His position was special.
He had his public image, the face that everyone knew him as. He had to make sure that his company had a good reputation, after all. But then, there was the side that very few people knew about. The side he used to do secret business. The business that if anyone found out about, would most certainly tarnish his reputation. But he had to do it.
He pulled a device out of his pocket. It was a tiny, disk-like object that was as big as the palm of his hand. It was primarily white with red markings all over it, and it had four dull spikes sticking out of it, vaguely resembling a shuriken. He didn't want to do it, but he knew that he had to.
He finished up his tea and made his way to the roof of the building. It was just important business he needed to attend to. Nothing unusual. He pressed the button and light enveloped him. It wasn't noticeable enough that people would see it, especially since the Edgeworth Enterprises main building was so high up, not to mention the fact that it was broad daylight. When the light disappeared, his appearance was vastly unrecognizable.
He was essentially covered in mech. The suit was defined by red markings on a white face. A purple cape fluttered in the wind behind him. Sharp shoulder armor extended, resembling wings a bit. His costume mostly consisted of purple, and he wore a skull on his belt. And finally, the suit's face had a very angular mustache, and the oddest looking topknot. Everything about its appearance was designed to scream 'danger.'
Miles knew he had a job to do. And he was going to give it his all, just like he did every day.
Phoenix's eyes snapped to the emergency siren that had been installed on the wall. The small red light was flashing, and a loud noise accompanied it. It was required by law that all businesses, large and small, had them be installed. He quickly rushed over and pressed the button to turn it off. "Everyone, remain calm and follow the instru-"
"It's the Evil Magistrate! Everybody run!" Customers cleared out of the shop before Phoenix could even finish his sentence. He honestly didn't know what he was expecting at this point. "...ctions."
Maya ran out of the kitchen. "Come on Nick! Let's hurry!"
"Right!" He shouted.
Phoenix pressed a button that would lock the restaurant down, again, as required by law. They both rushed out the back door before they were locked in, and they headed down to the more populated areas to see what was going on. Normally, it would take about two hours for them to get there on foot, but they had faster methods of transportation.
They each took a disk-like object out of their pockets. Phoenix's was mainly circular, however, there were odd pieces of wire sticking out that vaguely resembled butterfly wings. There was a big, red, jewel-like button in the middle. Maya's was pink, and had a circular base, but on top of that was a second layer in the shape of a sakura blossom.
They both simultaneously pressed the buttons on their devices, having done this a million times before, and light enveloped them both. Phoenix emerged from the light, dressed in mech. His lower half was completely red, and large wires wrapped around him in such a way that they resembled butterfly wings. An elongated topknot sprung from his head, and a red jewel rested in the center of his chest. He carried his Samurai Spear alongside him.
Maya's mech was completely pink, though the shades varied throughout. She wore a kimono with a huge pink bow in the back. Her hair was done in a traditional Japanese style, though there was a long bunch of hair tied up in the back. The two of them were an odd group, but they were the only ones who could save the city whenever problems like this arose.
They hurried off, and before they knew it, they were on top of the rooves, face to face with the Evil Magistrate. Phoenix hated him. Yes, it was true that the majority of Neo Olde Tokyo already hated him anyway, but his disdain was personal. "Evil Magistrate! Showing your face around here again, I see!"
The Evil Magistrate had his katana raised in front of him. "As if you were required to show up!"
"You know the drill! Step down now, or we won't hesitate to run you out of here!"
The Evil Magistrate gripped his katana tighter. "I'd like to see you try!"
Steel used his Samurai Spear and charged right at Magi's head. He ducked just in time and used his sword to turn the spear away from him. He almost ripped it out of Steel's hands, but he managed to keep hold of it. Steel fell forward a bit, and Magi attempted to strike, but Pink jumped in the way just in time, blocking with her sword, putting some distance between him and Steel. "Thanks, Pink!"
"No problem!" They both took steps back so that they could decide their next move. Magi was the next to charge, holding his katana in both hands, but Pink was able to swiftly and stylistically block him.
Magi attacked again, though this time, he went for Steel. Steel had an idea, but he had to act quickly. Magi swung his sword upwards and brought it back down. Steel took his spear and hooked it around the katana. He quickly spun it, having it close in around the sword, and it was so strong that it sent Magi flying, almost off the roof. He was separated from his katana by a short distance.
Pink pointed her sword at him. "Anything to say?"
With a small growl, he quickly grabbed his sword and met Pink's. The two clashed for a while, until Steel stepped in, taking some blows with his spear. While Steel had him distracted, Pink snuck up from behind and was about to strike with the handle of her sword. Magi didn't forget about her, of course, and he ducked while turning in her direction.
He made a swing to slice at her legs, but she jumped on top of his sword as he was swinging it, and jumped back over to Steel's side. Steel deflected a blow once more, before he stepped back with Pink. "It's okay to quit, you know!" Steel remarked.
Magi growled. "Over your dead body!"
They exchanged some more blows, and Steel and Pink even took turns. Magi was a good fighter, but even he had trouble fighting against more than one very skilled fighter on his own. He was exhausted in no time.
He hated the way those two stood proud, waiting for him to make the next move. Were they not tired at all? Were they not perspiring under the hot sun? It pained Magi to have to do this, but he had no other choice. The two of them together were just too strong for him. "You win this time, Steel Samurai and Pink Princess, but you won't next time! I'll make sure of it!"
He left as subtly as a person in a flying mech uniform could, and Steel and Pink cheered to themselves. They snuck back to the rural area as quietly as they could, and detransformed behind some trees. They didn't speak of it, until they made it back to Fey Clan. Phoenix unlocked the store with a remote control he always carried.
"I...am super hot." He said, turning on the air conditioner. "I'm sure Edgeworth thinks so, too. I'll get popsicles."
"M-Maya!" She didn't get to see his blush since she went into the back room.
"Okay, I'm kidding." She came back out with a blueberry popsicle for Phoenix, and a grape one for herself. "But I'm sure if he knew it was you up there, he would find you really admirable."
"Yeah, sure he would." He said, accepting his popsicle. "It's not like I could tell him anyway. I don't want to put him in danger."
"I know, but I think we were a bit too much for the Evil Magistrate today. He kinda just ran off."
"I honestly don't blame him." Phoenix said, sticking his face in front of the air conditioner.
"I wonder if he'll give up someday, if he just can't handle it."
Phoenix sighed. "I don't know. The Evil Magistrate has been around for a long time. I don't think he'll just leave on his own. I don't even know why he does this. Maybe he just does it for fun."
"Come on Nick, do you really think someone so serious would do something like that for fun?"
"Okay, you have a point, but I just wish he wouldn't pick such hot, inconvenient days. Does he not get hot, or is he really just some heartless, unfeeling monster?" Phoenix's opinions headed more towards the latter.
"Nick, let's just change the subject. You seem tense."
He sighed again. "Alright. What do you want to talk about?"
"Earlier today, a customer was considering buying our crystal jade tea set. The one from Neo Khura'in."
"The one with the mitamah patterns?"
"Yeah, that one! I would hate to sell it, because it's so pretty, but it's worth a lot of money!" If Maya's eyes could, they would have turned into yen signs.
Phoenix loved the way that Maya could just calm him down. Whenever she got excited about something, he could channel her optimistic energy, even when everything seemed so rough. It was just a normal day for both of them. Nothing more, nothing less.
Miles had not been looking forward to this. He had not been looking forward to telling his mentor that he had lost to the Steel Samurai yet again. But here he was, in a meeting room, with his mentor, an older man with slick back white hair and an intimidating demeanor. His dark blue suit was crisp as always, not a fold in sight. "Boy, this can't continue to go on."
Miles sighed. "I know."
Manfred Von Karma was the CEO of Von Karma Technologies, known also by its nickname, Karma Tech. He had taken Miles in as a child, and raised him in such a way, so that the two companies would be on friendly terms with each other. "I have made the decision to offer you something that would help aid in your fight with the Steel Samurai and Pink Princess."
He motioned to a box that was sitting in the middle of the table. "Take a look inside."
Miles stepped forward and opened the box. Inside were two disk-like devices, similar to his. "You're giving me the rest of them?"
A scowl appeared on Von Karma's face. "There were nine originally, but the rest were stolen. They're not easy to make, you know. I spend years designing them, only for all my hard work to be ruined."
"Y-Yes, I imagine that would be a pretty large disappointment." He reached inside the box and picked them up.
"Choose your teammates wisely, boy. They could make or break your entire mission." Miles nodded, and he was excused. It would be hard for him to find teammates, considering hardly anyone knew he was the Evil Magistrate. That, and there was no way he would ever trust Gumshoe to be on his team.
Thinking about the few people who did know, there was one person he could think of who he would absolutely trust to help him out.
It would be easier for him to ask her since he wouldn't have to interview new people, and he could be on equal footing with the Steel Samurai and Pink Princess.
Miles knew he would have to make an appointment with her immediately.
Next time on Phoenix Wright: Warrior of Neo Olde Tokyo:
["Your usual?" He asked, trying to sound as suave as possible.
"Yes, thank you." Miles tried not to be too obvious as he was staring at Phoenix, but the sun illuminated his face in such a way that made his smile seem brighter, as if that was even possible.]
["Ready to give up, Evil Magistrate?" Steel asked. His mecha face was frozen still, but the distorted voice underneath sounded smug and cocky. Of course it was annoying, but Magi couldn't admit that he hated it either.]
[After careful consideration, Franziska placed the winged device back in the box, and admired the one with the rose. "I will pick this one. It's very pretty. Not to mention, I believe that this is the one with the whip."]
Stay tuned for the next episode!