Thank you for the reviews, Glaciealis and TheMysteriousGeek2345. Your anticipation to how it all unravels makes me nervous and excited at the same time. My take on Edgeworth's reaction may be different to what you may be imagining. You guys may have to wait a little longer too, as I plan to release chapters chronologically. That also means that I have finished written later chapters that can't be revealed yet because earlier chapters haven't been completed...or even touched. Please do not lost patience, and hopefully everything will be worth waiting for.

Chapter 3: Next Step

Phoenix was nervous. And very, very excited. Larry drove him to the center, because for some reason despite being almost twenty now, Phoenix has yet to get his driver's license. He could just walk everywhere, he initially insisted. But the fact that the center was five hours away by driving, there was no way Phoenix Wright was going to sit in public transit for that long. He was very excited. But he was really hungry, and he really needed to pee. Like, badly.

Walking around in public without a binder on for the first time in five years felt very...different. He couldn't help but notice Larry sticking a camera in his face.

"Larry, I know that I'm asking for a big favor right now, and that you agreed to drive me and film for me, but not so close to the face, will you? I want to at least be able to see something if I want to go down memory lane."

"Here is the legendary Nixis Wrightalus in its natural habitat. This critter; although usually calm and docile, gets extremely cranky when its stomach is empty and its bladder full. Sadly for the creature, it cannot hunt for food during this time of its life, for it is soon to undergo an evolution, to become Phoenixicus Wrighcenius. " Larry said in the most offensive Australian accent ever.

"You make it sound like I'm a Pokémon," Phoenix noted.

"Deo deo deo deo!" Larry mused, to the tune of a certain item fanfare from a franchise that featured a sword wielding Hylian in green garb.

"Now I'm a collectible," he sighed.

"Aw come on, Nick. This is your big day! You're feeling excited aren't you? Don't tell me you're getting those pre ceremonial jitters!"

"Gee, I didn't know today was my wedding! I am so not dressed properly."

"You're sucking the fun out of this," Larry said, lowering the camera.

"Hey if I'm not responsible, who's gonna be?"

"Point."

"But yeah, you're right. I'm a bit nervous. But I've been waiting for this day for years! And it's finally here!" Phoenix whooped as they entered the building.

Phoenix couldn't remember much of what happened. He peed in a cup, he laid down on the surgery table. They talked to him as he went under. Waking up a few hours later, Phoenix could feel the pain and the familiar compression around his chest. Except this time it wasn't just a simple chest binder. It was a compression bandage, signs that the operation was successful and Phoenix Wright was officially boobless. Two small tubes were coming out of the chest bandage - the drains. Hopefully, Phoenix thought to himself, I actually remember to empty it out.

Dr. Vankatesh was right beside him the moment he came to, helping him slowly sit up.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Wright?" the doctor asked..

"Like I can eat a horse," Phoenix replied. The good doctor laughed at his patient's humor.

"Unfortunately, you have to eat a bit light for the next few days. You can increase your intakes each day, though. So maybe you can finish the horse after the week is over."

Phoenix sighed, "But I want to full horse now."

"It's what's best. Make sure to drink plenty of water, okay? This time is just as crucial as the actual surgery itself. If you experience any major abnormalities from the pamphlets I gave you, do not hesitate to call the office right away."

"Thank you, Mr. Vankatesh," the surgee beamed.

Larry helped his friend back into old but still useable 1996 Nissan. Hey, as long as it's still drivable, Larry will take it. No use in being fancy over what car to pick unless you have some actual and serious dough, which Larry is saving up for when it really matters.

"How are you doing, Nick...or should I now say, Phoenixicus?" Larry said, pointing the camera into his friend's face once again.

"Tired. Groggy. Denny's."

"Now Nick, I don't really know how it feels when someone is Denny's, but if that's a sign that you want to eat-"

"Please Larry, just drive. I haven't eaten in a day," Phoenix pleaded, resting his cranium on the chair's headrest.

"Aw come on, Nick, it couldn't have been more than f-"

"Larry!"

"Alright, alright. Phoenixicus is gonna murder the poor defenseless Larrycus Butzius if it doesn't drive the famished creature to a water hole...food hole?"

"Okay, that's it, give me the camera."

Even though Phoenix felt sore, and despite the fact that he wouldn't be able to indulge in a good, proper shower for several days, he was happy. He could even argue that it was the happiest day of his life - thus far. He felt like jumping is celebration, but unfortunately that wouldn't be good for his chest. Maybe when he finally healed up. That way, there would be way more pent up happiness and joy to be let out. He would even be happier even Larry could drive faster to a diner.

"Yeah...no, I won't be able to see it until a week later. Thanks! You too, bye," Phoenix put down the cell phone as slowly as he could after the call.

"Who was that?" Larry asked while drying his hair. He had just walked out of the shower, the heat was practically still rising off of his body.

"Terry. You're torturing me with all that steam you're letting out, Larry."

"Oh dude, yeah. How is the little guy?"

"He's not so little anymore," Phoenix replied, showing Larry the recently texted image of their friend.

"Wow. Good for him. How the hell does that happen in six months..." Larry mused. He then pointed in the general direction of the bathroom. "You taking one?"

"Yeah, sure. Don't expect me to do everything as fast as I used to for the next few days."

"Dude, take as long of showers as you want, we're not paying the water bill."

Phoenix chewed on the inside of cheek, "You know what I mean." Phoenix could still perform normal everyday tasks. But not, everything must be handled with caution. No lifting the arms above the head. No carrying objects heavier than an average textbook. This also resulted in slower movements.

"Oh yeah. Sure, knock yourself out."

They were staying at an average motel for the week. The both of them found it more convenient to remain in the area rather than travel back to L.A., only to make their way back a week later to get some bandages removed. Think about the gas.

Besides. Terry goes to college around here. Which means reunion time.

Terry greeted them with open arms. A hug to Larry and a firm handshake to Phoenix. He would have given the raven haired man a hug too, if it weren't for the pain and the drains, and the bandages...you get the idea.

"You look great," Phoenix told his friend.

"I'm sorry I can't say the same to you," Terry retorted. "Looks like you've just been risen back from the dead."

"Yeah, I'm still a bit tired."

"Maybe we should have waited until you got better," Terry said with concern.

"Nah, we haven't seen each other in months. As long as we don't go bungee jumping or something, I'll be fine."

"Damn, there goes my plan for the day," he muttered under his breath. "Guess we have to go to Plan B, there's a party one of the fraternities are hosting. Everyone's invited. Pretty sure no one's gonna notice you guys aren't students. You in?"

"Sounds stifling," Phoenix noted.

"Come on, Nick! I always wanted to crash a frat party."

"I don't know..."

"No, no. It's okay. If you don't want to go, we can do something else."

"Oh, no. No, it sounds great. We can...we can go."

"Are you sure?" Terry asked cautiously, wanting to make sure Phoenix truly want to go. He didn't want to make his old friend uncomfortable. Before Phoenix could reply, Larry butted in.

"Of course, he does! Don't ya, Nick?" Larry nudged Phoenix lightly on the arm. Phoenix in turned smiled nervously and nodded his head.

"Yeah...I'd love to go."

Still skeptical, but not wanting to make it an issue, Terry nodded and the three set off to his university. They hung around his dorm room before the party started. Walking to the fraternity house, the trio could already hear the loud music booming from the enclosed building. A car had pulled up nearing the garage, spewing out a group of juniors carrying around kegs of beer.

"Terryyyyy," a gruff voice sounded. A tall and well built man emerged from the house, arms wide in a welcoming stance.

"Russellll," Terry replied. The two grabbed each other's wrist and pulled each other in one of those signature half hug, half chest bump embraces. Soon, another male exited the house to greet Terry.

"Ch-ch-ch-chia!" the two hooted, much to the semi-amused/grimace of the newcomer.

"You must be Phoenix and Larry," the man said, pushing up his glasses as he walked up to them.

"Russell," the other introduced himself, sticking out his hand to greet Phoenix. Phoenix took the hand, but it took almost all his strength to keep the other male to shake it in an overly friendly way. You know, the ones where the shakes are obnoxiously violent and turbulent. This causes Russell's demeanor to waver, but his grin was back the moment his grip was in Larry's hands, who in turn did enough shaking for the both of them.

"Chia Chi. But call me Johnny," the spectacled man said, also signaling a want for a handshake. Johnny's handshake was less violent, firm, and quick. Larry however, shook the other man's hand with the strength of a horse. "God damn, the two of you will get along swimmingly," Johnny said, referring to Russell and Larry.

The party was not at all what Phoenix expected. Yes, there was booze, loud music, and lingering of drugs here and there. But it was mostly pleasant. Everyone minded their own business, and there was free pizza. Larry took a can of beer from one of the ice coolers, much to Phoenix's dismay.

"Larry," he hissed at his friend.

"Dude, chill out. It's okay," Larry harshly whispered to Phoenix.

"Yeah, Phoenix. Loosen up, this is a party." Russell appeared behind them, slightly shocking the daylights out of the raven.

"But he's the one that's suppose to be driving us home."

"Like I said. Party, chill out. One drink isn't going to kill him."

"Yeah, Nick. One drink. Just one," he pleaded, deploying the puppy eyes. Phoenix let out a prolonged sigh, long enough to hint at his obvious aggravation. This was viewed as an invitation to Larry, and he opened the can to take a giant swig. "Aaaaah, that's good."

The track of the music changed, and Russell got pumped. "Hey, this is my jam! Challenge you guys to a dance off."

"Nah," Phoenix said the same time as Larry's eager, "Hell's yeah!"

Larry took off with Russell, leaving Phoenix to locate Terry and Johnny.

"Hey, Phoenix!" he heard someone call out to me. Surprisingly, the voice was easy enough to locate, and Phoenix found himself weaving through the crowd to one of the sofas, occupied by Johnny and his friend.

"Guys," Phoenix greeted them, grinning.

"Hey dude, you don't look so good," Johnny pointed out. Phoenix sat down slowly, resting his head against the wall.

"Is this a bad time to ask where the pizza is?" Terry asked. He and Johnny were in charge of finding a place for the group of five to gather, while the others were to get the food and drinks.

"Oh shit," Phoenix muttered.

Johnny let out a laugh, "I guess Russell and your friend did something to make you forget it. Don't worry, I'll go. You look out of it." He then stood up to walk over to the kitchen.

"Veggie for me!" Terry shouted after him, in turn Johnny pointed a thumbs up above the crowd for both of them to see. Terry's voice then lowered to barely above a whisper. "If you're not feeling well, we can leave."

Phoenix shook his head, "No, I'm fine. Really." Terry's face contorted into a I-know-you're-bullshitting-but-I'll-let-it-slide face. "You should enjoy the party. I'll guard the seats for everyone.

"I'm not leaving you alone," Terry said. "Besides, there's still catching up to do."

Phoenix couldn't help but smile at his friend.

"Terry said that you're a fun guy. So far all you've been is anal," Russell said before chugging down his beer. Throughout the night, Phoenix had refused every case of "fun". He had declined alcohol the whole night, along with the beer bong. Refused all invitations of dances, male and female - this includes Mary Jane! She was one of the most popular girls on campus. He didn't even take a jump into the pool!

"You can't blame me, I just got out of surgery yesterday."

"Woah, really? What for?" Johnny asked.

"He got hit by a car," Terry lied fluidly. Larry and Phoenix both stared blankly for a split second before catching on and agreeing with Terry's falsities.

"You need to get surgery for that?" Russell asked incredulously, obviously already a bit buzzed.

"Yeah, of course," Phoenix replied. He rotated his free hand around before stating, "I got hit by a car pretty hard. What did you expect me to do? Walk off with only a broken ankle?"

"You should totally sue the guy that hit you," he said, taking any sip from his can.

"It was a hit and run."

"No witnesses?" Johnny inquired.

"No witnesses," Phoenix confirmed.

"Bad luck, man." Russell concluded.

"Really? I'm considering myself pretty lucky that I'm alive."

"True. Cheers for Phoenix's survival!" Russell declared, raising his can of beer towards the ceiling. The others followed suit. "Cheers!" They all called out, before knocking their cans into each others. Phoenix sipped on his water confidently. At least he won't be getting any toxins in his body tonight.

"What a bummer. All night you've only been drinking water and you guys can't even drive back. Everyone else has alcohol in the system. Tell you what, stay here for the night?"

Larry was already passed out drunk, so Phoenix agreed. Terry eventually had to slap him awake enough to drag him back into his dorm room. At least there, they'll be safer. Johnny helped on the other side, as Russell was in the anger stage of being drunk. Phoenix awkwardly walked behind them, making sure they didn't accidentally went so unbalanced that they fell or tripped on a piece of gravel.

They dropped Larry on the couch, who immediately back to dreamland, snoring away. Johnny said goodbye and left to go to his room, while Russell stayed behind to doodle dicks on Larry's face.

"Hey, Terry. I kinda need to sleep with my head slightly elevated, so do you mind if I get some extra pillows?"

"Sure, no problem, bud," Terry replied. On multiple occasions, the young man almost bumped into a piece of furniture. Terry's roommate was fortunately on a journey to "find himself", so the lower bunk was available, which was fine with Phoenix.

"Why ya caring for the guy like he's some sorta princess?" Russell slurred, obviously too drunk to function. He eyed the extra pillows that were gathered around Phoenix's head, which was being tucked and fluffed lovingly by Terry.

"Surgery, remember?" Terry replied.

"Oh yeaaaah," the wasted guy hiccuped. Russell then turned around to exit the room, only to bump and bang his toe against the edge of the door. "Fuck!" he cursed before continuing to walk out of the room in his drunken stupor.

"Oh. Terry?"

"Yes?" Terry was a bit tipsy, and all he wanted to do was go to sleep right then and there. Hopefully he wouldn't have to suffer a hangover.

"Do you guys have any beakers or measuring cups?"

"Pretty sure some of the guys have something around for their...extra chemistry homework," Terry avoided saying outright the truth. But Phoenix knew what was being hinted at.

"It'll do," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's just so I could measure the drain and all. I'm gonna need it to empty at least once in your wonderful abode if I'm to stay the night."

"Oh sure," Terry trotted out of the room and left Phoenix sitting on the bed awkwardly in silence. Soon, the young man came back with a 100 mL beaker. From what Phoenix could see, there were dark stains on the inside of the beaker. It was best not to question it. "Pretty sure we have some hydrogen peroxide in the cupboards too, so feel free. You would not believe how many times blood has to wiped off of things in this dorm."

"I can only imagine. Goodnight, Terry."

"Night, Phoenix."

"Dude, that's like totally a hella cool battle scar!" Larry declared as he took a gander at Phoenix's new chest. With the camera he brought to the clinic, Larry zoomed in and out rapidly at the new Phoenix. There were tiny ripples underneath the nipples, something that was bound to happen after the surgery. But Dr. Vankatesh assured them both that they would fade in a few weeks.

"I know right? Soon after a few months, I can finally show these babies to the world without it being dubbed indecent by societal rules. Hey, you better not be doing funky things with that thing, I don't want to get headaches each time I watch that."

"Whatever do you mean?" Larry feigned innocence as he turned the camera sideways and upright deliberately for several seconds. "And I know what you mean, dude. Get this; so I was at work the other day and a mother asked me if she could feed her baby. She had a poncho to cover up and everything, she was hella prepared. And since she asked so nicely, how could I say no? Man, but did this other lady was looking at the mother like it was the end of the world or something. She wanted to talk to my manager!"

"How many more boob stories do you know?" Phoenix asked rhetorically.

"Not many, but maybe if you were willing to sit down at a bar with me sometime, I can tell ya."

"Larry, we're not old enough to drink."

"What the adults don't know won't hurt them," Larry smirked. Someone behind him cleared their throat, and with a shaky camera turn, the lens focused on the female standing with papers in her hands and an unamused look on their face. All amusement vanished from Larry's face as he began to chuckle nervously, "But we would never do something like sneak into a bar, right, Nick?"

"I don't know, Larry. Would we?" asked Phoenix sweetly. Oh, that innocence is so full of lies, Larry thought bitterly.

Soon, Dr. Vankatesh removed the drains from either side of Phoenix's body. After a few words of advice, a gratuitous thank you, and Larry accidentally kicking over some plastic models of human anatomy, Phoenix was free. In a few hours, free to take a damn shower. In a few weeks, free of all bindings and a schedule of medications and applying things on his body. Well, except for the T of course, he'd still need that. Wouldn't need the bigger hips or the menses, now did he?

"Oh fuck, dude," Larry said suddenly.

"What? What?" Phoenix asked, slightly shocked.

"Your hairline is totally receding."

"What?" Phoenix squawked. He immediately pulled down the passenger visor to check his hair in the mirror. "Hey, keep your eyes on the road."

"We're on the freeway, where nothing is gonna show up for miles but grass, hills, and more grass. Hey look, a deer." The deer was passed by in a second without Phoenix's notice. His hair was fucking receding. He wasn't even twenty yet and it was fucking receding. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. "Hey, look on the bright side. Operation was successful and we have saved the moment forever in a recording."

"I'm going to bald," Phoenix cried out.

"That's insane, who've ever heard of a bald Phoenix?"

"Larry, that's not helping."

"Well, unless it's molting season. Do Phoenixes molt? They're magical birds right? Immortality and all that shit. Would they molt? How valuable do you think their feathers are?"

"Larry."