To say that the courtroom was shocked was something of an understatement. Edgeworth finally seemed to lose all his footing and fell back in shock into his seat. Jaws dropped even further, and a clamour came up out of the courtroom at this latest turn of events. Only Niko seemed unsurprised, his face drawn into a vicious snarl as though he were about to attack.

"Wh-wh-whaaaat?!" Judge Baldy cried, utterly confused, his eyes bulging. 'Wait a minute! There's a third one now?!"

Phoenix shook his head, remaining standing. "No, your Honor. Benedikta had been Phoenix all along. I realized it when I looked at the family resemblance. Niko has Friedrich's black hair. He also happens to look incredibly similar to his first cousin Franziska. Someone supposedly so far removed this branch of the family shouldn't resemble them so much. Your Honor," he waved an arm towards their suspect, "this is Benedikta von Karma."

"You-! You have no proof of that!" Niko- or Benedikta- proclaimed. Now that one looked at him, or her rather, he looked far too young for a man his age. Too slight, too round of face. Forget looking like Franziska's brother. They could have been twins.

On the witness stand, Benedikta, or Phoenix, or whatever they were called, took out an ornate fan and began to primly fan him-herself. "Niko," he-she said, now that they seemed to have gotten their bearings, "give it up. I don't know what's going on, but your secret is out."

"Er, no offense, but how do we address you?" Phoenix asked, profoundly affected by the surrealism of this.

"Beni is fine," they replied with a smile. "And I've been a girl all my life. No need to stop now." She looked past him, to the man who loomed over the Defense, finally catching sight of her supposed father. "Papa! Du bist hier! Du siehst unwohl aus. Was ist los, Papa?"

"Nenn ihn nicht so!" Niko snarled at her, threatening to launch forward at the witness. Friedrich had to physically restrain him, keeping a strong arm around Niko's slight body while the suspect shrilled threats in German. It took a full five minutes to get Niko to calm down. Even then, he was restrained even further as he was physically chained by his wrists and ankles.

"D-did you know about this?" Edgeworth demanded of Friedrich, finally getting his bearings once the shock had worn off. However, the man still said nothing. Supposedly, this was still covered underneath privilege. He absently dusted off his lapels as he stood to address his brand new star witness. "Well, welcome Fräulein von Karma. I should let you know that you have been called her as a material witness in a case involving the murder of Josephine von Karma."

A delicate gasp escaped Beni. "Kusine Josie? Oh how dreadful! She was such a wonderful person! Who would want to do such a thing to her!"

"I am hoping that you can help enlighten us about that," Edgeworth replied, giving a significant look over at their frothing suspect. "First, are you aware of any motive that Niko would have to do any harm to your cousin?"

"Hmmm~" Beni mused, fluttering her fan. "Well~ Not particularly, if I'm being honest. Recently, Niko had far more problems with Papa than he ever had with Kusine Josie."

There was something strangely unsettling about her demeanor. She acted far too cute. Too innocent. With a jarring revelation, Phoenix realized that she reminded him of Dahlia. It was a bitter reminder that not all ghosts were necessarily reliable.

"And what were those problems, Fräulein von Karma?" Miles asked, with a smooth charm that was making Phoenix twitch just a little.

"Oh~ The usual. The pressure was getting to him, you see. I don't know if you know, but our Familie has very exacting standards."

Phoenix just barely held in a laugh. Beni clearly didn't know her audience. Edgeworth would know that better than anyone. However, he still kept smiling and pandering to his lovely new witness. "How did Niko act out?"

"He didn't, really," Beni replied with another flutter of her fan. "He just grew more erratic and unhinged as time passed. Push his buttons and he'd start cracking." All eyes involuntarily went over to the defendant, who was currently bodily restrained into his seat.

"Is that what you did?" Miles asked, still giving her his charming smile, as though he were in on a private joke. "Push his buttons?"

Beni let out a tiny giggle. Then suddenly snapped her fan closed and presented the chief prosecutor with a smile of thinly veiled malice. "That is none of your business."

Phoenix and Miles both blinked at that. Well. Guess they had a hostile witness on their hands. "Fräulein," Edgeworth said, getting to the crux of the matter, "did Niko kill you?"

The fan was out again, fluttering softly as Beni considered her answer. Finally, she said, "I don't remember."

"You... what?!" Miles choked. Appalled, he cried, "What kind of murder victim doesn't remember their murder?!"

"Talk to a lot of murder victims, do you?" Beni asked wryly, amused.

That certainly put the prosecutor at a loss for words.

Phoenix coughed lightly. "Magatama," he air-whispered to the other side. This was a clear cut case of a witness holding back, if there ever was one. Nodding, Miles took the small charm out. He seemed to decide something for himself, before simply tossing the charm at Phoenix. Almost as if he were passing the baton.

Phoenix couldn't help but grin a little. Oh, he knew how to use this very well.

His hand slammed on the podium. "Beni, did you somehow provoke Niko?" he demanded and watched with satisfaction as several Psyche-locks came into being. Beni looked askance. Which was a sure sign of guilt. He just needed to keep pressing. "Yes. Yes, you did, didn't you?" Phoenix surmised with the insight the magatama and pure instinct told him.

A Psyche-lock shattered.

"You know perfectly well how you died, but you don't want to reveal your crime." Her eyes flicked to her relations, to Niko... and Friedrich.

(Shatter.)

Oh... I see it now. I should have known. It wouldn't have only been Niko who felt the pressure. Beni had to be perfect too. The perfect daughter.

Phoenix's expression grew fierce with determination, but kept his voice level and sympathetic. He had the edge here. He knew where they were coming from. "Kusine Beni, you look very worried. You did something shameful, didn't you?"

(Rattle.) "Something you don't want your Papa to know?" (Shatter.)

"Es ist in Ordnung, Beni," Phoenix spoke gently, even as he felt his interrogation coming to a crescendo. "I think he already knows about it now. If he doesn't understand, then I will. I know what it's like there. You can tell me. What did you do to Niko to enrage him like this?"

The spirit pouted, as if personally affronted. "You make it sound so devious~! I did nothing to him. Why would I?"

"You liar," a guttural growl reverberated from the gallery. Niko glared at the undead witness, his eyes spelling violence. "You whore! You know exactly what you did!"

"Niko, stop," Friedrich hissed beside him, grasping his child's arm tightly to try to rein him back in. However, Niko was simply having none of it.

"NEIN! Ich lehne ab! I'm done with listening to you!" Niko snarled, ripping his appendage from the older attorney. With ungainly balance, he pushed himself up to his feet, pointing an accusing finger with his shackled hands at the witness in front of him. "This one-! She had it so easy. All she had to do was play my fiancée! That was literally all she was meant to do! It was the only reason why Onkel- why MY father had adopted her! She was supposed to be my supporter. My ally." A sharp shudder went through him, the memory almost physically painful to extricate. "I broke myself to fulfill my father's footsteps. Josie, she- she broke me." Tears filled Niko's eyes, though his, no her words, were still rough and forceful. "All I needed was for Beni to be broken with me. But no! This- this backstabbing bitch," she snarled in Beni's direction, "was sleeping around while I worked myself to the bone, being something that I wasn't! Not even know what was wrong with me. And she- and HE just-"

Niko turned to Friedrich, her eyes full of pleading and of vindication. "Papa, I found her. Your perfect, precious Beni. She was sleeping in your bed with complete strangers. With women."

"Niko, bitte- Stop," Friedrich begged, though he made no move to physically restrain his daughter.

"She was still dressed up as a woman," Niko spoke, her words becoming more manic and twisted. At this point, it was unclear if she was even addressing the court, "Isn't that just sick? The utter deviancy of her. I had no choice, Onkel," she spoke, her eyes glazed as she turned a vacant look up to Friedrich. She smiled crookedly. "We couldn't have her stain the family name. After all, I never took a man, Papa. I never did. Your heir wouldn't do something so sick, would he? Your heir had to be perfect. Had to be- Had to be- Had to be-"

A quiet settled over the court as Niko dissolved into a gibbering mess. Friedrich took her into his arms, wrapping his arms tightly about her frail form.

"Wretched creature, isn't she?" Beni sniffed dismissively, breaking the silence as she casually fluttered her fan. "It wasn't my fault she couldn't hack it."

Phoenix turned to stare at the woman over his shoulder. Murder victim or not, her sheer callousness made his stomach churn. He couldn't believe that he ever imagined that this figment in his locket would ever be like Iris.

"So, I take it that this was Josephine's work as well?" Miles asked, waving a hand towards the wreckage of humanity in the gallery.

"Naturally," Beni replied, bemused. "As if it would be anyone else's. She was just so grateful to Papa for all that he did for her. All he wanted was a male heir. She decided to fulfill his wish." A long-suffering sigh escaped her. "It's just all so tragically cliché, isn't it?"

"...I have what I need from this witness," Phoenix said at last. He felt bone-tired and just a little sick. "Thank you for your testimony... Phoenix von Karma."

"Ta-ta~" Beni cooed, giving him a wave and a wink, before she disappeared in a flash of light. Leaving an exhausted Maya in her wake. Phoenix managed to catch her just before she slumped towards the ground.

"D-did... did I do okay?" she asked tiredly, looking up at him through her half-lidded eyes.

"You did perfect," Phoenix reported with a genuine smile.

"Oh good," she breathed, relaxing. "I can't wait to train in Khura'in. This is going to have to get easier one day."

~o~

Eventually, the chaos settled. Everyone returned to their seats, including Maya Fey to rest up. Niko had sunken out of her breakdown into this sullen, broken shell of herself. Miles stood up, feeling none too ecstatic for what he was about to do. "Your Honor, I would like to recall... Benedikta von Karma to the stand. To continue the cross-examination."

"Is that really necessary?" the Judge replied, his sympathies clearly laying with the fragile, broken defendant.

"I will be careful," Miles promised sincerely, holding up his hands in placation. "We just need to lay the facts bare."

Forcing herself up, Niko brought herself to the witness stand, a mere shade of her former self.

"How would you like me to address you?" Miles asked gently.

"Niko," the curt reply.

"Very well Niko." Miles leaned forward, "I am only interested in the crime committed in my jurisdiction." In his house, no less. "Did you kill Josephine von Karma?"

"What do you think?" Niko demanded belligerently.

"Niko, please, your own words."

The fire dimmed again, her eyes growing dull. "Yes, I killed her. When I had... faked my death, I fled to the United States. To Phoenix, to see if I could find my parents - his parents. They didn't recognize me... of course. It was too painful to stay there, so I went to LA instead. I just... saw her by chance. I thought she was going to take me back. So I did what I had to do. I followed her to a house, watched her break in. Figured it was the perfect opportunity. I took a knife from the kitchen and... well." She smiled, all her chilling murderous hatred packed into such a small word.

Suddenly, Niko let out a brittle laugh. "I didn't even know about you until it hit the newspapers," she said, pointing a finger at Wright. "I probably should have left it alone, but I figured you would be the perfect scapegoat. So I decided to sick Onkel Friedrich on you. Told him what you- what I did to Beni all those years ago. I knew he'd come running." Her fact twisted, growing dark, "Then you come here. Dressed like that. Proclaiming that. And he was just going to- to-" She slammed her fist down, letting out a sound between a snarl and a sob.

Regarding her, Miles turned his attention back to the Judge. "Your Honor, the Defense rests its case. We also humbly request leniency for Benedikta von Karma. She is clearly in need of psychiatric help. I recommend that she be given to the mercy of the State."

"So ordered," the Judge agreed, pounding the gavel against his podium. With that pronouncement, correctional officers came to take Niko away for processing. Miles dearly hoped that the von Karma would get the help that she needed... and that none of them would see hide or hair of her again.

"With that..." Judge Baldy said, bringing all the attention back to him. "I will declare my verdict." Though it was obvious what his answer would be, the courtroom held its breath for a tense moment nonetheless. Perhaps it was one of the few pleasures the Judge enjoyed.

"Not Guilty."

There was no fanfare this time. Celebrations decidedly muted, their support group crowding around the visibly relieved defendants in congratulations. Miles only let himself enjoy the moment a little, though a slip of a smile escaped him as he relished watching the heaviness finally lift from Phoenix's shoulders. At last, he was free.

Stiffly, Friedrich von Karma stood from his seat, making his way to the back of the court where a gaggle of media no doubt awaited. He didn't look in the direction of the Defense. His shoulders slumped, posture crumbled. Miles doubted that the man would ever be able to recover from this. Nevertheless... "Herr von Karma," he called out to the man. When Friedrich turned his aged eyes his direction, he said, "Expect to be served in the morning."

Phoenix sent him a look, hopeless bleeding heart that he was. "What?" Miles demanded defensively. "He's still culpable for all this. I'm not going to just let it go."

With an exasperated sigh, Wright rolled his eyes and decided that it wasn't worth arguing over at the moment. Right now, they were all exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster of a day. No one felt like celebrating extensively, deciding that they would postpone Phoenix's exoneration party for another day. Instead, they went their separate ways, departing to their respective homes.

~o~

August 7
Edgeworth Residence
9:53 PM

Signs of the police disruption were still abound when Miles and Phoenix arrived back at the prosecutor's house. Everything was just a little bit out of place, knocked about, or outright wrong. Such as the staging area for their numerous upcoming legal battles, aka the dining room table. The documents were all returned at least, laid out in sloppy stacks at the end of the long wooden table and a couple chairs. However, a familiar little figure greeted them at the door, lighting their moods after the especially long day.

"Pess!" Edgeworth cried, picking up his darling puppy and doting on her with cuddles and kisses. As soon as he noticed Phoenix watching, he coughed with embarrassment and passed the wriggling pup over. "Here, I'm sure she missed you."

Phoenix was going to have to figure out a way to get Miles to open up his more vulnerable, adorable side to him. That was a project for another day. Instead, he took Pess and loved on her with all the luvvy-duvvyness that he could manage.

"Will you be taking the couch again?" Miles called, having made his way into the kitchen. Phoenix blinked at that. The couch? Why would he- Oh... Right. He was still sleeping on the couch last time they were here. Wrangling the excitable pup in his arms, he said as casually as he could manage, "Oh... I don't know. I kind of like the sleeping arrangements we had when I first came here."

Ceramic abruptly clattered. A moment later, Miles' anxious voice called, "O-oh. I see."

Raising an eyebrow, Phoenix let Pess down and decided to go into the kitchen himself to see what was what. He found the prosecutor busily messing with teabags and cups, oddly flustered. "Um, Miles? You do realize that earlier today we actually-"

"Yes, I know what we did," the prosecutor said in a rush of breath, his cheeks flushed with heat. He looked awkwardly away from Phoenix's direction, still absently tasked with preparing them two cups of tea. "Are you... proposing a more permanent engagement to our state of affairs?"

Phoenix couldn't think of a more legalese way of asking him if he wanted to move in. "I would be amenable to that," he teased, smirking as he took one of the cups. "Do you want that?" he asked more seriously.

Miles still didn't look at him. His fingers tensed around his own cup, his gaze fixed on the rising steam. Phoenix began to worry for the long moment he didn't speak, when he finally said, "I don't want you to feel rushed into anything. I don't want to trap you. This- everything- I do not know how you could handle the emotional complications that a relationship would bring. You should be focusing on your own-"

As he looked up, Phoenix leaned in to kiss him, shutting up his arguments. Miles needed to do that sometimes. He smiled as he pulled back, running a hand along Miles' forearm and enjoying watching the other man shudder. "I can handle it, Miles," Phoenix assured him, "because it's you. I'm better with you. Because of you."

The other man still looked uncertain, so Phoenix leaned in again, pressing another kiss against the corner of his lips. Then another along his jaw and neck. "You're allowed to love me, you know," he breathed into the shell of the ear, right before he sucked on the tender earlobe. At that, Miles melted underneath him, either in response to the words or to the touches. He began to return the affection in full with the delicious, barely restrained hunger that so charged their liaisons. Phoenix pushed him down to the couch that had been his bed for so many nights, both of them shrugging out of their clothes until skin met hot skin. In a far less fraught encounter than earlier that day, they moved slowly, letting heat, friction, and desire guide their motions into an escalating climax. It was to the sweetest words that Phoenix finally found his release:

"I love you, Phoenix. Always."