They met up silently with Edgeworth outside the door to the gallery. He nodded, having enough tact not to comment on the loss, and led them down the hallway to the prosecutors' lobbies. The last door was left partially open and the conversation from inside echoed down the corridor.

"Think you're all good, AJ?"

"I'm fine."

"Why do I even ask?"

They slowed outside the door, not wanting to interrupt. Justice's voice was scratchy and shaky.

"Mother save me, Detective. I made a fool of myself."

"You kidding me? You were amazing!"

"Yeah... up until I utterly fell apart! I should have been more careful."

"You got caught up in the action, AJ. No one can fault you for it."

"I'll still be getting an earful from Sahdmadhi, though, won't I? And I should probably go apologize to the defense for my abrupt exit."

That was Athena's cue. She burst into the room.

"No apology required, Prosecutor Justice! I'm glad to see you're doing better."

Justice was seated on a bench, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. Detective Ihmus knelt in front of him, one hand reaching around to rub the prosecutor's back. They looked remarkably like father and son. As Athena entered, and they recovered from the shock of her sudden appearance, Justice sat up straight and the detective stood up bringing an arm to the back of his waist. Edgeworth and Pheonix followed her at a more normal pace.

"Ms. Cykes! Thank you, yes, I am doing much better. And Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth, I'm sorry to have given such a poor first impression of the Crown Prosecutor's Office."

Edgeworth's eyebrows shot up.

"If that was a poor showing then I should think your office is a thing to be feared. I believe, however, that you were referring to your coughing fit, in which case, I would inform you that we were more concerned about your health than your prosecution."

"Ahh... Thank you, sir."

With his usual tact and grace, Phoenix asked the question they were all thinking.

"What was that coughing fit about anyway? Are you sick or something?"

The detective pulled out a knife, a strange, curved blade. They all took a step back in fear, but he just pulled an apple out of one of his pockets and started peeling it. Justice sighed.

"Warn people before you draw your kukri, detective. You're bound to give someone a heart attack one of these days." Addressing Phoenix, Justice continued. "Forgive him his eccentricities, please. This topic makes him anxious."

"I'm not anxious."

Athena frowned and Pheonix was about to ask her about it, but Justice cut him off with the answer to his question.

"Due to a childhood injury to my lungs, I am often short of breath and prone to coughing fits. It's quite a challenge to work around in a profession that consists often of slapping the desk and shouting at the top of my lungs."

He rubbed his chest, perhaps to alleviate the pain. The detective took that as a cue to go get him some water from the vending machine.

"So, Prosecutor Justice," Athena sat beside him on the bench, "Can I ask why you came to the states?"

"Several reasons. Firstly, I came to solidify the recent MPJ treaty."

Phoenix interrupted.

"What's an MPJ treaty?"

"A Mutual Prosecutorial Jurisdiction treaty. Essentially, it gives Khura'inese prosecutors the right to practice in America without being hired by an American prosecutor's office and vice versa. It has only just been signed, so, Her Eminence sent me as a way to test America's resolution to keeping the promises in the treaty."

Edgeworth frowned.

"Does she doubt that? It seems to me that America has everything to gain by upholding the MPJ."

Justice sighed.

"As I said, many reasons. She also wanted me to investigate an old case. A suspect in a case fled the country about twenty years ago. The trail went cold a few months later in Borginia, but we have reason to believe she's now in America. Not that she could be prosecuted here, what with-"

He cut himself off, looking behind them at something outside the window. Hopping up, he strode over to let it in.

The glowing outline of a pink butterfly flew in through the window, swooping and gliding. It hardly looked real, glowing with bright neon light like a mid-air hologram. With obvious intelligence, it wove its way around Pheonix, Edgeworth and Athena who had all jumped up in shock at the strange apparition. Justice snorts at their confusion.

"This is what it looks like when Crown Prosecutor Sahdmadhi wants to get in touch."

He extended his arm, which the butterfly seemed to take as a cue to fly to the halfway point between Phoenix and Justice. Twisting his fingers into a traditional grip, Justice chanted:

"O wandering soul of the dead, I call upon you. I grant you form as seen by those with clear eyes. I grant you voice as heard by those with unstopped ears. In the name of the Holy Mother, infinite in her wisdom, I grant you reprieve from the eternal slumber of the Twilight Realm."

The butterfly's glow pulsed brighter and began to shift. As if being stretched and molded in the air, it grew into the outline of a man, still pulsing with neon pink light.

He was a short man, perhaps only an inch or so taller than Justice, wearing a casual suit jacket unbuttoned over a turtleneck. He had a wide brimmed hat on his head and an acoustic guitar strapped to his back. He awkwardly hooked the two long strands of hair that fell into his face behind his ears with hands protected by white fingerless gloves.

The strangest thing about him, other than being a glowing pink apparition, was that he was on fire. As his image solidified, green flames flickered to life around his limbs, his torso, even on top of his head like a candle.

Athena squealed. Pheonix and Edgeworth just gaped. The man smiled at them before turning to Justice. "Heya, Mr. Prosecutor! Sorry for interrupting you and your friends, but I have news from Sahdmadhi."

The man spoke as if he had simply walked in through the door and not materialized out of thin air. Justice hooked his braids behind his ears. Smiling at the bewildered onlookers, he tried to reassure them.

"May I introduce you all to Jangly? He's a spirit of the departed that Prosecutor Sahdmadhi often sends messages through. Jangly meet Chief Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, defense attorney Pheonix Wright and his junior associate Athena Cykes."

The man, Jangly, tipped his hat in their direction.

"Pleasure to meet y'all!"

"Are you a ghost?!" Athena couldn't contain herself. "Why are you pink? And on fire?"

Jangly laughed, bright, cheerful and... well, jangly, but there was, in his tone perhaps, something thoroughly dead. It wasn't scary, not really, just sad.

"Yeah, little lady! I'm a ghost! Don't know why I'm pink, but as for the fire, that's cause it's how I died."

Everyone went quiet. Hearing someone talk about their own death so casually was honestly disconcerting. After a moment, Justice cleared his throat.

"You said you had news?"

"Yep." Jangly shoved both hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his feet. "The good news is that Sahdmadhi has finally gotten the crown's approval to open an investigation into Prosecutor Payne. Should be an open and shut case."

Justice flashes his feral grin.

"That's great! Finally! Wait, you said that was the good news. Does that mean there is bad news?"

Jangly winced.

"Sad to say so, but yep. The new definition of a Khura'inese citizen has been ratified. Sahdmadhi said they'd help you with the paperwork at least."

Justice muttered something clearly foul under his breath. Jangly laughed again.

"They also said to pass along a message. Now, how did they say it? Tell the pix'okl to mind his temper and tongue before they get him in trouble."

Justice blushed and cleared his throat.

"Your pronunciation is still terrible."

"Cut me some slack, kid, I'm dead."

"You've been dead for 23 years; you've lost the right to use that as an excuse."

The detective chose that moment to walk in.

"Hey JJ! Nice to see ya! How've ya been holding up?"

"Not bad, A'nohn. Not bad at all! I need to head out now though. Sahdmadhi will want me to tell them how their pix'okl's first American trial went!"

Justice blushed deeper.

"You were watching?"

"I'll always be watching you, kid. You really lit the court on fire. I would know; fire is my specialty."

Jangly laughed and before anyone could think of a response, he flashed up a mock salute and jumped straight up. Midair, he began to shrink, until all that remained was a pink neon outline of a butterfly. It flew out the window, presumably off for the Kingdom of Khura'in.

"Right." Justice hooked both his braids behind his ears. They only stayed there for a second before falling back in his face. "Now that Jangly has had the chance to thoroughly embarrass me, we should be headed back to the apartment. Detective?"

Detective Ihmus crossed his arms.

"I'm not letting ya walk there. Forget it, AJ. It's not gonna happen!"

"What are you proposing then detective? Neither of us have a car here."

Athena, who had only gotten more and more curious about the two eccentric men who could talk to ghosts, saw her chance for an interrogation and took it.

"I'm already driving the boss home! I wouldn't mind taking the two of you."

Justice looked about to politely refuse her, but the detective put a hand on his shoulder. They had a silent conversation. Finally, Justice sighed.

"If it's not too much trouble, I'd be grateful for the ride."