AN: Yay for an update, with the longest chapter to date. Let's just say that the first draft of this was complete trash and had a completely different plot. I would like to thank my brother for some help on this one. Oh yeah, this chapter can be a bit awkward in some parts, but it isn't too bad. (Hopefully)

"Mia, why does it seem that I get the least attention in the fanbase?" Iris asked as she looked down at her hands folded neatly in her lap.

"Maybe because you are delicate little flower." Mia put her hand on her cousin's shoulder.

"B-but do you think it's because I changed my name to a crazy symbol out of anger toward the record company?"

"Changing your name to a magatama with a hood on it probably wasn't the best idea…"

"Okay girls, that's a wrap." Phoenix called out after the camera crew had stopped filming. Phoenix predicted that Fey Girls World was going to boost the group's popularity tenfold. He didn't care to think about the consequences if the movie tanked, millions of dollars wasted. It was not his money anyway. Maybe if he could just 'persuade' a few of the critics to give the movie a five star review…

"Manager Nick," Phoenix looked down to see Pearl tugging on his pants.

"Yeah Pearls, what is it?" He bent down to make eye contact with the small girl. She started to nervously chew the top of her thumb.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come and play with me. Musical Maya, Mia, and Iris all said they were busy." Phoenix was about to ask about Dahlia, but then remembered how she felt about her relatives, or just people in general.

"I'd love to." He smiled gently, and she smiled back. She eventually took his hand and started to pull him to her trailer where she stayed during these times of filming. She shut the door behind her. The manager couldn't help but notice the security camera set up on a few of the walls in the trailer.

"So, what are we going to play?" Phoenix asked as he noted the absence of toys.

"Crime Investigators!" She exclaimed gleefully while jumping up and down.

"Crime Investigators? Is that some sort of board game?" Pearl giggled.

"No silly, we go and solve the crime and arrest the bad guy."

"By bad guy you mean the insidiously evil being behind everything who is trying to kill us every turn of the way?"

"… Let's go with that." She agreed hesitantly.

"So what's the crime?"

"Mr. Bear was murdered!" She produced a small brown teddy bear from behind her back, presumably from the couch. Isn't she a little young to be thinking about murder, even if it is make believe. Phoenix sweat dropped.

"And how exactly did he meet his horrible fate?" The manager stroked his chin in thought.

"Someone shot his eye out with a BB gun!"

"So he bled to death as the BB pierced his cranial cavity and maybe even hit his brain?" Pearl cocked her head and looked at him. Maybe I should have been a doctor. "Well, uh, what do we know about Mr. Bear?"

"Umm, he's a bear, and uhh he's uhh… married!" Phoenix grinned at the absurdity of it all.

"Oh really, to who?"

"Umm Musical Dahlia." Phoenix could hardly control his laughter. "The way she would look whenever she held him in her arms."

"Oh really?" Phoenix's face contorted into a trollish smile. He rubbed his hands together like an evil master mind plotting his nemesis's demise. I can't wait to bring this up with Dahlia later.

Pearl pounded her fist into her hand. "We need to look for clues."

"To the Fey Cave!" Phoenix began to sing a theme song to a certain super hero. "Denananananananana Fey Girls!"

The young girl was confused. "Fey Cave?"

"Just a joke."

Begin Investigation

"This seems oddly familiar…" A man carrying a boom mic commented.

"Hold it! Where did you come from?!" Phoenix pointed with his index finger at the man and his friend with a camera.

"Ms. Vasquez asked us to get some behind the scenes footage." The man with the camera shrugged.

"Well get out! How long have you been following me anyway?"

"Long enough to know that you're a player. Too bad we couldn't get any audio with Dahlia, but that hug was pretty convincing." Suddenly a hand lashed out and smacked the manager in the face.

"How could you do this to Musical Maya?"

"Another one eh?" The sound man raised his eyebrows. "We better go Frank."

"But I saw it! I have everything on film." The cameraman who was called Frank was dragged away by his ear courtesy of his colleague.

"Why don't we go investigate somewhere else…" Phoenix suggested. So that if those guys are still outside I can get away from them.

"Why not go to Musical Maya's trailer; she was Mr. Bear's best friend." She suggested, and she was already opening the door to go.

"Okay, let's go." The two walked over to the singer's trailer to be greeted by the girl herself.

"Oh, hi Nick, hi Pearly. What are you doing here?" At first she seemed surprised about the appearance of the two, but then she looked a bit annoyed.

"We need to investigate your trailer and dressing room." Phoenix declared, and Maya gave him a somewhat weird look.

"We need to know clues about Mr. Bear's murder." Pearl said.

"And we heard you are in the possession of a BB gun." He added.

"I'd love to help, but I'm late to the Steel Samurai panel that I'm the celebrity guest at. I heard that Miles Edgeworth is there. I'm going to fight his opinions to the end. Seriously, who ships Evil Magistrate x Pink Princess, it's not even canon!?" She flailed her arms.

"Don't worry, Manager Nick and I can investigate by ourselves." She gave her cutest look to Maya.

"…Fine, just make sure Nick behaves himself." With that she was off. The investigators walked into the trailer to find that it looked almost exactly like Pearl's, save the fact that Steel Samurai memorabilia was littered everywhere.

"I think she might need to go to a counselor after seeing this." He commented, kicking away a small figurine. Each person looked around the room searching for 'evidence.'

"Manager Nick, why do you like Musical Maya?" The eight year old blurted out.

"I-I do not like her!" He stammered, caught off guard by her question.

"She always seems to like to hang out with you, and she goes on and on about how great you are." Phoenix scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Heh heh, really?" The girl nodded her head.

"Yeah, but I can't seem to figure out why." Phoenix deflated. "N-not like that. What I meant was why do people like each other? What makes them?"

"Well, nothing makes you like someone. You just enjoy being around them."

"I like being around you, does that mean I love you?" She cocked her head cutely.

"In a way yes, but also no." Pearl seemed to ignore the last part of this statement.

"People who are in love… kiss, right?"

"Yeah… w-w-wait, no, no no." He gave each negative more inflection than the last. "There's a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone."

"But I love you, so we kiss."

"Maya loves burgers; does that mean she kisses them?" Phoenix asked, trying to make a point.

"In a way…" I really need to learn to pick my analogies better.

"W-wait, I c-can't kiss you."

"Don't worry about what Musical Maya will think. This will be our little secret." She pulled an imaginary zipper over her mouth to illustrate her point.

"Pearls, I love you but…"

"Then why won't you kiss me?!"

"But not like that. I think of you more as a daughter, or little sister if anything." Pearl's expression changed from cute, to mad. She was rolling up her sleeve and looked as if she were preparing to punch something, or somebody.

"Kiss me!" The manager slowly started to back away from her.

"Pearl, you don't want an old man like me. I'm seventeen years older than you. Don't you want someone a little… closer in age?" Please say yes; this is awkward enough already.

"I heard that age is just a number." She went into her fantasy land. "As long as it's true love it doesn't matter." This is different, you're a kid and I'm an adult! Phoenix took this opportunity to make a dash for the door. Thankfully he was able to get away from Pearl. On the flip side Pearl had also run after him. "Manager Nick!" She ran toward the filming location. Phoenix saw a security officer up ahead, Diego Armando to be specific.

"Help me!" He hid behind the bigger man.

"Why would I help you, Trite?" Diego pushed Phoenix away from him so that they were facing each other.

"We're buddies, right?" He asked frantically.

"We were acquaintances, but after that little stunt you pulled with Mia kitten…"

"Sorry, I won't do it again. Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry." He bowed each time he said the word in an attempt to show just how sorry he was.

"Sorry doesn't cut it, but since I haven't done my good deed of the day yet, I will help you. What's your problem?"

"I just need you to distract Pearls long enough so I can get away."

"Running from a child, very manly of you." He smirked.

"Shut up and help me. I'll even pay you." The manager pulled a wad of twenties from his pocket and shoved it toward Diego.

"You keep that much money on you? Thanks for telling me who to rob."

"This is just pocket change." With that Phoenix went to hide behind a potted plant.

"Mr. Armando, have you seen Manager Nick?" Phoenix heard Pearl ask.

"I think he's hiding behind Charley." Phoenix looked down to see a gold chain around the plant's trunk. It said Charley. Curse you Diego. Phoenix ran from his hiding spot and hid elsewhere (a closet to be precise) so he wouldn't be found. After he was sure that the girl would not still be wandering about, he tried to leave, only to find that the door had been locked from the outside.

"Hope this teaches you a lesson Trite." Phoenix pounded on the door with his fists. "Ha, how ironic, you chase after a girl who doesn't want you, only later to be chased by a girl you don't want."

"Diego, open this door this instant!" He continued banging for a few minutes, but it soon became apparent that Diego was no longer there. Phoenix would have to wait until the night when the janitor would come before he could get out. Now I know how that one singer felt being trapped in a closet, though I don't think is wait they had in mind.

Poor Phoenix, he never gets a break. Yeah, Pearl was the one to chase after Phoenix, not the other way around. For the next chapter we have Iris!