Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The first time Phoenix Wright died, he saw a big, red, light.

It was the only visible thing in the rain that was pouring profusely on that early afternoon. But it came from nowhere, from a speeding car that hadn’t noticed him crossing the road on his way back home, after school.

Phoenix was only eight years old, and he had no time to process what was happening before he got pushed to the side by an even more sudden force. For one second, he didn’t feel anything.

It was like he was weightless, falling down.

He only knew he was dying. 

Then he felt the ground again, and something heavy on top of him.

And a faint, worried, voice.

“Are you okay?” 

Phoenix didn’t know how to respond.

He didn’t know if he could respond.

He was frozen, trembling, lying down on the ground, his vision clouded by his tears, and the rain, that was still pouring heavily.

He could still see red, the only color in front of him.

“You don’t look hurt… did you hit your head? I’m sorry, this is my first time saving someone. I should have been faster” the voice continued, and the red moved a little.

…saving?

Was he…?

Was he alive?

Phoenix started to breathe again, and he focused on the red in front of him. 

They weren’t the lights of the car that almost ran over him.

It was a little boy, probably his age, dressed like a superhero.

He was just like…

“Signal Red?” he asked, with a trembling whisper, recognizing a little version of one of his favorite superheroes.

“No, I… I don’t actually have a superhero name, yet. But I’m not Signal Red” the little masked man corrected him, and stood up, looking around and shielding Phoenix from any further threat “So… how do you feel? I read that the first duty of a superhero is to make sure people are okay” he asked, confidently.

“I…” Phoenix was still pretty shaken, but he was starting to realize he was alive, well, and not dead.

He couldn’t stop looking at his savior, like he was some sort of god. 

“Take your time… do you need me to give you a hand? We are on the sidewalk, so it’s safe if you want to stay there for a little while” not-Signal Red approached him calmly.

“I…” Phoenix wasn’t able to reach for words, but he slowly sat down on the sidewalk, and looked around.

The car was nowhere in sight. The driver hadn’t noticed him, or didn’t care he had almost killed a child.

The only two people around were them.

Realization filled Phoenix with dread.

“I almost died!” he exclaimed, bursting into tears like any normal eight-year-old would have done in that kind of situation.

The little hero jumped in his place, surprised by the sudden emotional outburst.

“It’s… it’s okay… you are okay. I saved you” he tried to reassure him, not knowing what else to do, and sitting beside him.

Phoenix hugged him tightly, looking for a connection, and a reassurance that he was, actually, alive and well.

“Thank you! Thank you!” he whispered, through his tears.

The hero didn’t know what to say, and patted his back, returning the hug.

“Do you want me to accompany you home?” he proposed, after crying for a couple of minutes.

Phoenix nodded, not able to speak.

They walked for a while, the hero in the front, looking around for any eventual danger, and Phoenix following behind, clutching at his coat.

“That… that is my home” he pointed at the house on the other side of the street, and stopped in his tracks, not wanting to cross the road.

The little hero noticed his hesitation, and turned toward him.

“There are no cars coming, it’s okay. I’m here” he reassured Phoenix, confidently, and looking around to make sure everything was fine.

He was really professional.

Phoenix took a deep breath, and nodded.

“Okay… okay…” he took the boy’s hand, and they crossed the street together.

They stopped in front of Phoenix’s house.

“I hope you are fine. Take care…” after making sure Phoenix was safe, the hero bowed a little, and turned around, probably headed towards other people to save and help.

“Wait!” Phoenix stopped him by hugging him one last time.

“Thank you!” he repeated, grateful for his help.

“It’s my duty as a hero” the boy minimized, smiling a bit at the gratitude.

“Can I see you again? I want to thank you better when I’m calmer!” Phoenix asked, with puppy-dog-eyes.

The superhero was taken aback.

“Uhm… I think it’s unusual to meet again someone you saved, but I guess I should make sure you are actually okay” he pondered, probably thinking about superhero rules.

Phoenix wasn’t an expert on superhumans. He wasn’t one, after all. And he was only eight.

“Tomorrow? At the park? After school?” he proposed, hopeful.

“…okay. I’ll be there” the boy nodded “Take care” he then waved at Phoenix, and went back to his duties.

Once inside his house, Phoenix felt way way better.

He couldn’t wait to see Signal Red, or, well, the kid version of him, again.

The next day, it was a sunny day. More cars around. Better drivers.

Phoenix was still pretty agitated, but couldn’t wait to meet his hero again.

A part of him was wondering if that meeting was even real.

“Good afternoon. How are you?” a voice behind him confirmed it had been real.

“Hi! I’m fine! Thank you again for yesterday!” Phoenix quickly turned around and greeted his hero with a big smile.

“I’m glad. And it’s my duty! Don’t mention it” the hero approached him.

“But you are so young! How old are you? Since when are you a superhero? What’s your power? What type it is? Active-evident, right? You were so fast yesterday, it must be active-evident. Not that I’m an expert, to be fair, but…” Phoenix started to press him for information, curious about everything.

“Uhm… I’m… I shouldn’t say my age, but I guess we are kinda the same age. I’m not a superhero, yet. But I want to become one, when I’ll be old enough. And my power…” he hesitated, hiding better under his hood.

“You’ll be the best superhero that ever lived! What’s your superhero name? You look a lot like Signal Red! I thought it was him when you saved me! The Signal Trio are my favorite heroes!” Phoenix didn’t press further about powers.

The hero lightened up when talking about the Signal Trio.

“I like them too! My dad is… he helped me craft my costume! But I don’t have a superhero name yet. And I can’t use Signal Red, it’s copyrighted” he explained, professional.

They sat down on a bench.

“What about Red Signal?” proposed Phoenix after a couple minutes of deep thinking.

The kid snorted.

“Isn’t that kinda the same?” he observed, amused.

Phoenix blushed a little.

It was kinda the same, wasn’t it?

“Well… not completely. I just… I can’t ask for your name, but I want to call you something. Can I call you Red?” he asked, wanting to associate a name to the person who had saved his life.

He was gonna craft a statue in his honor.

Or maybe ask Larry to do that. His best friend wasn’t the most reliable person in the world, but he was the best at arts and crafts in the whole classroom.

“It’s okay… you are… ehm… what’s your name?” Red asked him, a bit uncertain.

“It’s Phoenix, Phoenix Wright” Phoenix offered his hand to shake. Red obliged.

“Oh, okay, Wright. So… you are okay? Nothing wrong?” he made sure. It was clear Red had no idea what else to talk about.

“I’m perfect! And please call me Phoenix!” Phoenix didn’t care, he wanted to spend as much time as possible with his savior. His company was giving him a sense of safety “So… you like superheroes?”.

“I love them! I’m studying to become a great superhero one day! My dad… ehm… are you human?” after starting with excitement, Red abruptly changed the subject. It was probably not ideal for an aspiring superhero to give too much personal information.

Phoenix lowered his gaze.

“Yeah… no powers. I did a test, once, because apparently my dad was a superhuman, so I have some DNA, I guess, but no powers” he explained, trying to remember how his mother had put it when they went to do a power test. It had been a long and exhausting process. After a week of exams, Phoenix had figured out why almost no one ever did the test.

“What kind of powers does your father have?” Red asked, curious “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to!” he then backtracked, worried he might have been too nosy.

“It’s okay, I didn’t even ever meet him. Apparently he had active-evident powers. So, like… he could control them, and the effects were obvious, right? I’m not an expert” Phoenix tried to remember what he had studied about superhumans, hoping he wasn’t embarrassing himself. 

“Yes. It’s also the only type of power that allows someone to become a superhero” Red added, with an ounce of bitterness.

“So like you!” Phoenix pointed at him, confidently.

“…well, actually, my power is passive-hidden” Red admitted, in a whisper, not looking at Phoenix in the eyes.

Phoenix blinked, surprised at the revelation. 

Passive-hidden superhumans were the second most common type, but they were considered completely useless, like they were normal humans.

“Really?! I thought those types of superpowers didn’t have an impact on…” Phoenix noticed Red was becoming pretty dejected, so he stopped his sentence “…I mean… wow, you are a passive-hidden superhuman and you still managed to be amazing while saving me!” he corrected himself, trying to sound as enthusiast as possible.

Red sighed.

“I think the law should change, regarding superheroes, and it will, one day! I know I can’t control how my powers work and the effects aren’t provable, but I can control what use to do with them!” he got defensive.

Phoenix felt guilty for his lack of faith. That was the person who had saved his life, the day before. It didn’t matter what type of superhuman he was, because he was definitely a hero, just by wanting to use his abilities to do good. He was young, but amazing!

Phoenix put his hands on the boy’s shoulders. 

“I’m sure you will! I’m serious! You helped me! You are already a superhero to me!” Phoenix encouraged him, as sincere as possible.

“I… thank you” Red was a bit relieved and pleased at the comment. 

“Really! I think you are amazing, regardless of the type of power you have!” Phoenix insisted, starting to shake him to get the message across better.

Red chuckled a little, covering his mouth to disguise it.

“I get it… thank you” he replied, much happier about Phoenix’s new statement.

“You are also really cool! Like… wanting to be a superhero, and stuff. You are super informed and professional!” Phoenix didn’t stop. He had a lot more to say about his hero.

“Stop it! I’m not that great!” Red covered his face more, now super embarrassed. 

“Yes, you are! Wow, I wish I was a superhuman, too. To help people like you helped me” Phoenix’s mind started to wander. He knew it was an impossible thought, but couldn’t help but imagine it.

“You can help people without being a superhuman, or you can always awake” Red suggested.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Phoenix turned towards him, interested but confused.

“The awakening. It’s rare, but sometimes a human gets powers during their lives. I don’t know how, though” Red explained, remembering his superhuman studies.

Phoenix’s eyes brightened at the prospect. 

“Wow! That’d be so cool!”

***

The second time Phoenix Wright died, he saw an even bigger, redder, light.

This time, a thunder had struck him, causing a fire all around the college grounds.

A sudden, scary almost immediate thing that took him out faster than the lightning itself.

But the red Phoenix saw, instants before the void, was his girlfriend’s red hair, and her amused and satisfied smirk, from across the courtyard.

This time, no one had come to save him.

This time, something awoke in him.

The second time he died, was actually the first he actually left his body, burnt and rotten, behind, and rose from the ashes.

The first time… but not the last.

Chapter Text

It hadn’t been that bad, this time.

A swift passing, pretty embarrassing even.

He slipped on the rug, hit his head, and… farewell to his favorite t-shirt.

Domestic accidents were the best type. Less probability of being seen, less clothing to lose. It was a win-win situation.

It was still a death, though.

And even two years after his first passing, Phoenix hadn’t gotten used to dying every two or three weeks.

He was in a new body, at the moment, but he could still feel the phantom of the hit on his head from the day before.

“Phoenix, are you okay?” the voice of his mentor snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Huh? Yeah, chief, I’m… I’m okay. I’m focused on the scene” Phoenix lied, and tried to remember what he was doing.

Oh, right! 

He was investigating the crime scene of his first case as a defense attorney!

…a bad time to get distracted by his death.

Mia Fey, his mentor, wasn’t convinced.

“Then tell me, who is the victim?” she asked, testing his concentration.

“Cindy Stone! She was… hit… in the head” what a terrible coincidence.

“Correct. And who’s your client?” Mia continued with her questioning.

“Larry. He’s accused of her murder. By the way, did you look at the body?” Phoenix changed the subject, and moved around to look better at the apartment. There was a notice of a blackout in the building, and traces of forced entry on the door.

Probably a burglary gone wrong.

“Yes, I did… she hasn’t seen her aggressor clearly, she was hit from behind and quickly lost consciousness” Mia answered, professionally.

Phoenix stiffened at the thought.

“Phoenix, are you okay? You don’t seem yourself, today” Mia was quick to notice, and approached him.

“There are signs of forced entry at the door. It was probably a burglar. There are no fingerprints, right?” Phoenix didn’t answer. It was his first trial, his big debut, and it was already enough nerve-wracking without thinking about his last death, which was also way too similar to the victim’s.

“If you don’t feel well, I can take it from here. It’s a complicated case, I don’t want you to…” Mia insisted.

“I’m fine! It was just… just a stupid accident. I’m used to it” Phoenix snapped, finally admitting to what had happened.

Mia was taken aback for a moment, then she sighed.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” she asked, calmly and encouraging, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Phoenix knew he could count on her. She was more than just his mentor and boss, she was also his friend, and one of the only two people and a half who knew his secret. The other person was Mia’s sister Maya, and that half-person was Larry, but he didn’t actually realize Phoenix had awakened. He only knew he was a bit weirder after the first accident.

“I’m fine, Mia, I promise. I need to work hard if I want to help Larry. And I can’t let something like this distract me” Phoenix shook his head, trying to focus on the matter at hand. 

It was a stupid death.

An insignificant one.

Phoenix’s power let him come back to life, so whatever, right?

“You died, Phoenix. It’s not something easy to bear. And I know a lot about death” Mia didn’t let it go, and pressed a bit.

It was true, Mia Fey was probably the only person who could understand what Phoenix was going through, because of her passive-hidden superpower of seeing how a person had died by touching their body. She had told Phoenix she always saw their point of view, living their deaths as her own.

She was the first to have noticed Phoenix’s change, before Phoenix himself, two years prior.

“It wasn’t that bad, you can control it if you want” Phoenix offered her his hand to prove there was nothing wrong with him.

Mia removed her glove, and took it.

She was silent for a couple of seconds, her eyes glowing a bright yellow.

Then she sighed.

“I don’t know if you should take care of this case” she admitted, troubled, putting her glove back again.

“I’m fine” Phoenix replied, trying to sound confident.

“It’s your first time in court, Phoenix. And it’s a murder trial. It’s already difficult enough without reliving a trauma. I’m just thinking about your mental health” Mia explained her reasoning.

She wasn’t wrong.

Phoenix thought about it.

He was kinda stressed, and nervous, and worried.

But he wanted to work.

It was the distraction he needed!

“…I know, Mia, but if I keep letting my accidents control my life, I’ll never move on. I can’t disappoint Larry. He needs my help” he decided at the end, way more certain than before.

“Okay, I understand. I’ll still be by your side every step of the way, as your co-counsel” Mia respected his decision, and made herself available for help.

“Thank you, chief” 

Now that things were settled, Phoenix turned back to the crime scene. They didn’t have much time, after all.

“So, did you talk with your client? Did he give you his version of the facts?” asked Mia, taking notes about the bloodstain on the floor.

They had separated, before, so that Mia could take a look at the body, and Phoenix could interrogate his client.

“Well… he was rambling random stuff and mostly crying a lot for the loss of his girlfriend. It wasn’t useful, but if he keeps acting this depressed it might help his case. There is not enough evidence to accuse him of anything. I don’t think it will be that hard” Phoenix explained. There was no proof Larry was even there at the time of the murder.

No DNA, no fingerprints, nothing! The only reason he was accused was that he had a relationship with the victim. Or at least that’s what Phoenix thought. 

“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, we don’t know what the prosecution has against Mr. Butz. They could have a witness, or some evidence they plan to disclose at the trial” Mia tried to be realistic “You should keep firm beliefs, and…” 

“…a flexible mind” Phoenix concluded for her. 

“You learned well” Mia patted him on the shoulder, proud.

“From the best teacher” Phoenix smiled.

“So, what idea do you have about the case?” Mia looked around some more, and interrogated him.

“I think it’s a burglary gone wrong” Phoenix answered, looking at the evidence.

“How do you plan to prove it wasn’t your client?” asked Mia, then.

“Well, first there isn’t evidence against him, and… I should ask him if he had the key to her apartment, or if he knew where the spare key was. That’d prove that he couldn’t have broken in” Phoenix pondered, looking at Mia in search of approval.

“Good thinking. If you finished here, I think we could go talk to your client once more” Mia proposed, looking at her notes and pointing at the door.

“Yes, chief” Phoenix followed her “I was also thinking… Larry didn’t have a motive. According to him, they were a perfect couple, he had no reason to kill her” he remembered what Larry had told him.

He was confident he was gonna finish that case pretty quickly.

As it turned out… Larry had a motive.

A pretty standard motive.

And the prosecution had a witness.

Dang it!

Larry didn’t have a key to his ex-girlfriend's apartment. He forgot where the spare key was, and was at her place moments before the murder had taken place.

And his motive to kill her was that she had dumped him, and probably also cheated on him.

And at the moment Larry was furiously complaining about her attitude, which wasn’t giving him a good look.

“Phoenix, focus. It’s your turn to cross-examine the witness” Mia nudged him a little to get his attention.

“Yes, yes, I’m on it” Phoenix looked at the evidence.

The statue, the victim’s passport, the broken lock that was now useless to defend Larry… the autopsy report.

“So I remember clearly it was 1:00 PM when I saw the body” said the witness, Mr. Frank Sahwit.

Wait…

“Objection, your honor! The time of the death was between 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM. There is a clear contradiction!” Phoenix replied, determined to prove his client innocent.

They went back and forth for a while, the witness was doing a really sloppy job with his testimony.

“I think he’s the real murderer” Phoenix whispered at Mia, while the witness was rambling something about a clock he heard.

He had already changed version too many times, he was anxious, and… he shouldn’t have known that the statue and murder weapon was indeed a clock.

Not even Phoenix knew, and he had examined the murder weapon with Mia, during their investigation.

“Now you just have to prove it” Mia suggested to him, scanning the suspect trying to recognize him.

She was probably comparing him to the figure she had seen in Cindy’s death memory.

“Shouldn’t I just prove that Larry isn’t guilty? The witness’ testimony has too many holes. He can’t be trusted, anyway” Phoenix objected, quietly.

“But offering a clear vision on how things went it’s definitely a good way to do it. We are fighting for truth, after all” Mia counter-objected.

She was right.

And Phoenix tried.

And almost got him.

Until…

“How can you prove that the clock was early on the day of the murder?” was the witness’ defense.

…was he serious?

The murder had taken place like two days prior. What was the chance that the clock time was changed after that date?!

Phoenix didn’t know how to respond. It was so stupid!

“Oh, come on! That guy is clearly lying! He changed version like thirty times! You can’t trust his testimony!” a voice erupted from the audience, catching everyone’s attention.

Phoenix turned towards the direction it came from, and chuckled a little when noticing it belonged to Maya Fey, Mia’s sister.

Leaning towards them, with her bright Steel Samurai t-shirt, she had just said what everyone in the room was probably thinking.

“Order in the court. Or I’ll have you removed!” the judge banged his gavel, silencing the court.

But she was right! How could the witness’ testimony be valid after all his mistakes?!

“Phoenix, sometimes the law is not favorable to us, and you’ll see those limitations especially when superhumans are involved…” Mia started a motivational speech.

Phoenix didn’t need one. He knew how unfair law could be with some types of superhumans. He was a living example of that.

He unconsciously grabbed his right shoulder.

“…the point is… you need to keep your mind flexible, and think outside the box. Don’t ask how to prove the clock was early on the day of the murder. Ask yourself… why was the clock early at all?” Mia suggested.

Phoenix thought about it.

He looked at the evidence.

The clock, the autopsy report… the passport.

The victim went to Paris and came back the day of the murder.

“If there are no more objections, I hereby declare the cross-examination over” the judge moved to bang his gavel, but Phoenix was quicker.

“Objection! Your honor, I can prove that the clock was early on the day of the murder!” Phoenix pointed his accusatory finger toward the witness.

With newfound confidence, he was ready to completely destroy that man’s testimony.

“Phoenix, you are fuming” Mia made him notice.

Phoenix tried to calm down.

He didn’t want to lose control and cause a fire by accident.

His active-evident power was always a bit difficult to control, even after two years.

“What I want to say, is that the clock is not early. It’s late! Because it is adjusted according to the French time zone!” Phoenix explained his theory.

And the witness’ testimony quickly fell apart, along with the witness himself.

Phoenix Wright’s first trial ended up with a not guilty verdict and the true killer behind bars.

A good ending for the newbie attorney.

“What the heck, Larry?! Why didn’t you say to me she had left you?!” after the trial, Phoenix had a thing or two to say to his client.

“Nicky!! I’m dying! I’m so sad! She was my whole world! I’d rather die with her!” Larry didn't answer, and started a pity party.

“Don’t talk about death like you know what it’s like!” Phoenix rolled his eyes, but calmed down. His friend was always like that, after all, he was used to it.

“But Nick! I’m so heartbroken! I thought she grew distant because she was working a lot, but to think she had many relationships… and she even dumped me!! Put me out of my misery, Nick!” Larry took him from his shoulders and started shaking him.

“Uhhh, Nick? That’s a nice nickname!” an excited voice interrupted Phoenix’s rebuttal.

“No, Maya, please…” Phoenix already realized where this was going.

“What, Nick?” Maya smiled mischievously.

Phoenix sighed. 

Well, at least it wasn’t ‘Nicky’.

“Maya, I thought you were at work” Mia interrupted the trio, looking at her sister with confusion and a trace of nagging.

“I got a free day. I wanted to attend Nick’s first trial! I thought I could make fun of him, but I guess he did kinda well” Maya started to poke at him.

Which, adding to Larry’s shakes, started to really annoy Phoenix.

“Not thanks to your loud intervention” Phoenix started to poke at her too, as revenge.

“Guys, guys… keep it professional. We are still in court!” Mia tried to stop them, smiling a bit.

Larry was the first to withdraw.

“She’s right, Nick. What kind of lawyer are you?!” he took Mia’s side, completely forgetting about his supposed depression.

He was quick at switching moods.

“The one who just saved your life, you ungrateful brat!” muttered Phoenix, feeling disrespected.

“…yeah, you are right. So now we’re even, I guess” Larry realized he was being a bit unkind, and hugged him to show his gratitude.

The subtext was “I’m not going to pay you”, but Phoenix expected this much.

“It was pretty cool. I mean… Butz did have an indisputable motive. An ex-girlfriend who had cheated on him, dumped him, and he was still clinging to her like a stalker… he looked kinda guilty, to be fair” Maya observed, thinking about the case.

Larry was frozen for a second.

Then he started to bawl again, now crying on Phoenix’s shoulder, not letting him go.

“Ahhhh, Nick! I thought we were meant to be?! Why did she treat me that way?!” he complained, again.

“There there…” Phoenix patted Larry on the back, and frowned at Maya, who looked regretful.

“Sorry…” she muttered.

Mia took matters into her own hands.

“Actually, I don’t think she despised you. She probably had much on her plate, but she probably cared about you, in her own way… don’t you think so too, Phoenix?” Mia pointed at the evidence, still on display, suggesting at Phoenix to take a look, and comfort his friend.

Phoenix quickly figured it out.

“Yes, Mia’s right. She did take your hand-made clock with her to Europe. She must have liked that, and by extension, you” Phoenix tried his best to sound encouraging.

But, to be honest, she probably had liked the clock more than the person who had made it. It was weird, but really well-crafted.

Larry was still the best at arts and crafts.

“You think so?!” Larry looked at him with a hopeful gaze.

Phoenix didn’t know what else to say. He wasn’t that good of a liar (yet).

“Yes, it’s really well-made, I’m sure Miss Stone really cared for it” Mia, more experienced in bluffing, answered for him, with a big and encouraging smile.

“Thaaaank you! Here, you can have it!” Larry, uplifted, took a clock of the Thinker from… seemingly nowhere, and offered it to Mia, who hesitated a bit before taking it.

“…the murder weapon?” she asked, surprised it was in his possession and not archived with the rest of the evidence.

“It’s a copy! I made two of them, one for my Cindy, and the other for me, but I can’t keep it, it hurts too much” Larry explained, melodramatically.

“Well… thank you” Mia’s smile faltered a bit, but she kept it on. It was clear she didn’t really like being gifted a clock whose twin was used to kill a person, but she masked her discontent with great ability.

Maya was more enthusiastic. She took the clock from Mia’s hands, and observed it.

“It is pretty well made! The attention to detail is… ops” she almost dropped it, and Phoenix was quick and close enough to catch it.

“Wow, Nick, you were fast” Larry was pretty surprised by his quick reflexes.

But there was no superhuman explanation for that. Phoenix was just too used to Maya’s mishaps, after two years of knowing her.

“Careful, Maya” Mia reprimanded her sister, with a disappointed voice. 

Phoenix realized that she was disappointed about the clock not breaking, and not Maya’s clumsiness.

He held back a chuckle.

“Sorry, it was heavy” Maya justified herself, pouting.

“Or maybe you are just weak!” Phoenix observed, with a grin, juggling with the clock like it was the lightest object in the world.

It was, to be honest, less heavy than it looked.

“How dare you! Take that back!” Maya resumed her poking, offended.

“Or what? Are you going to kill me again?!” Phoenix did the same, and provoked her more, bringing up one of the first thing that happened the day the two had met.

It was after Phoenix’s awakening, when Phoenix was still discovering his powers, and was pretty freaked out by his first death.

Mia had introduced him to Maya, who had discovered everything, and while talking about powers, Maya had told Phoenix, with great pride, that she was able to channel spirits. That was her power.

Jokingly. Phoenix had challenged her to try and channel him.

She did.

And accidentally killed Phoenix for the second time.

It was the weirdest thing that had ever happened to him.

And even though they were now laughing about it, Maya was still sensitive about the topic.

“Don’t talk about that! It was an accident!” She defended herself, poking him more.

“What are they talking about?” Larry was now lost. And it was weird for him to not being the confusing one in the room.

“Just a… game” Mia quickly found an excuse, then she turned towards the two “Calm down! Be professional!”

Phoenix and Maya stopped their fighting, both standing straight and professionally.

“Yes, Sis!”

“Sorry chief”

Mia shook her head, amused.

“It’s better if we go. There’s another trial in a hour, and I’d rather not be there when the prosecutor comes. He’s not… nice to be around” she encouraged everyone to exit the building. 

Only when they got outside, Phoenix realized that it was over, and he had won.

He had won his first trial!

It was one of the best feelings in the world!

“Now you have to offer dinner…” Maya whispered in his ear.

Wait, what?!

“Oh, come on, Maya, do you really need to order the most expensive burger?!” Phoenix complained when looking at her order for the night.

They were at the Super Café, a really nice but pretty expensive place superhero-themed.

“It’s the best on the menu! You are so generous to offer!” Maya smiled innocently at him, confirming her order.

“I didn’t even get paid for the job!” Phoenix made her notice.

“It’s not about payment, it’s about finding the truth” Mia objected, confidently.

And Phoenix could agree, but…

“…really, Mia, the lobster?!” he exclaimed, pointing at her order. He was feeling betrayed.

“It’s the kitchen special” Mia defended herself, with an even more innocent smile than her sister’s.

Phoenix sighed.

“Whatever. I’ll get a… water” he gave up, thinking about his thin bank account.

“Can I suggest the Samurai Steak? It’s amazing!” Maya showed him a dish on the menu, that she probably wanted to try herself.

“What kind of café is that? Why there are so many different things in the menu?” noticed Phoenix, confused by the many different kind of dishes.

Meat, fish, sweets. Japanese, American, Italian. It was like they offered everything. 

It was… really plot convenient.

“Don’t think too much about it” Maya tried to close the subject, waving a hand in front of him.

“Anyway, I’ll just order… some fries” at the end, Phoenix settled for the cheapest thing on the menu, to compensate for the girls' expensive choices.

“You are stingy” Maya muttered, disappointed that she wasn’t gonna try —eat the entirety of— the Samurai Steak.

“I’m broke!” Phoenix replied, matter-of-factly.

“I thought I pay you enough” Mia pondered, feeling attacked.

“You are amazing, chief!” Phoenix was quick to assure “…but I also have bills, okay?!” but stayed firmly on his decision.

“It’s you who won’t eat” Maya shrugged “By the way… how was the trial?” she then asked, changing the subject.

“Weren’t you there?” Phoenix replied, not trusting her sudden interest.

“I meant psychologically. How was it? You looked so focused and determined!” Maya insisted, showing sincere interest in his feelings.

Phoenix thought about it, but already knew how to answer.

“It was… amazing, to be honest. I was a bit scared, towards the end, and it was nerve-wreaking. But I loved that. Searching for contradictions, finding the truth. I felt… like I could really do something good for others, like…” a superhero.

Growing up without powers, Phoenix thought he was never going to be the kind of hero he admired so much, like the Signal Trio, and… Red. 

But now, he did help someone. Maybe he wasn’t wearing a mask, or a cape, but he had helped an innocent person not get condemned for a murder he didn’t commit.

It was… amazing!

“Okay, that’s a really nice sentiment” Maya nodded, satisfied with his answer.

“You did really well, I’m glad you feel this way” Mia patted Phoenix on the back, proud of him.

“Thank you, Mia” Phoenix was happy at her approval.

She was his inspiration, after all.

Well… one of his inspirations.

And the only one he could still get inspired by, at the moment.

Their orders came, and the trio started to eat.

While nibbling his fries, Phoenix realized something about the trial.

“To be fair… there is one thing I’m not totally happy about” he broke the silence.

“What is it?” asked Mia, interested.

“I wish there was a superhuman involved… after all, my specialization is in defending superhumans, so I wish my next case will involve one” Phoenix admitted, a bit bashful.

“Are you sure? Trials involving superhumans are way more difficult” Mia warned him.

“I think I’ll manage. I have the best teacher, after all” Phoenix was optimistic about it.

“I also think you are ready, but be careful. This world is… hard to navigate through” Mia was the perfect mix of encouraging and realistic. 

She had been an active lawyer for only three years, but she had already saw a lot of unfair and corrupt situations. 

And superhuman laws were… imperfect, to say the least.

“You can defend me when I’ll inevitably kill my boss for giving me insane work hours!” Maya joked, breaking the tension.

“Oh no, please! I can’t take your case, you are too guilty to be defended!” Phoenix jumped at that to make fun of her.

“No offense, Phoenix, but I’d rather defend my sister, when she’ll surely get accused of murder” Mia got on the train.

“Et tu, Mia?!” Maya looked at her sister, offended. She chuckled.

“I could never compete with the chief. But let’s hope that day, that will definitely come, will be in a long long time” Phoenix laughed too, happy about the relaxed atmosphere.

“If my boss doesn’t stop with the unpaid overtime, it will be soon” Maya snorted, loudly.

“You are aware that this is your workplace, I’m right here and I’m a former detective, are you?” a voice stopped the murder planning.

It was Maya’s boss, Angel Starr, and she was standing behind Maya and glaring at her.

Yes, Maya worked part-time at the Super Café. And as a Superhero geek, it was only natural.

“I’m joking, Miss Starr! You know I love working here!” Maya was quick to laugh it off.

“Humpf” Angel rolled her eyes, and continued to serve customers.

“I’m here only for the free food” Maya whispered to the two dinner buddies.

“Your stomach is a bottomless pit” Phoenix whispered in return.

“And I’m proud of it” Maya smiled brightly.

“Jokes aside, please try to not be accused of murder, sis” Mia tousled her hair, before returning to her lobster.

“She IS good at killing people” noticed Phoenix, with a grin.

“Stop talking about that! It was an accident!” Maya took Phoenix’s own fries, and started throwing them toward the defense attorney.

The three of them burst out laughing, and spent an amazing evening, eating, talking, and happily enjoying each other’s company.

Little did Phoenix know, that was gonna be one of the last lazy evenings he was ever gonna spend with the two sisters together.

Chapter Text

A month had already passed after his first trial, but Phoenix hadn’t taken any other cases, but only assisted Mia with hers.

There wasn’t much work in summer.

And that morning, in particular, was pretty lazy.

Even though he was supposed to work, Phoenix decided he could take a break, and read an article that he was looking forward to since that morning.

“Red-caped vigilante strikes again and saves two students from assault” 

The moment Phoenix had read the title, he had to buy the newspaper.

Ever since that mysterious vigilante had appeared, two years prior, Phoenix had been searching every crumble of information about him, hoping he could be his childhood best friend, the reason he was so interested in superhumans in the first place.

Red Signal.

His savior.

The little vigilante who had disappeared one day for no reason.

Phoenix would have done anything to meet him again.

And he wanted to believe, with all his heart, that the red-caped vigilante was him.

So he was collecting every piece of information he could find, hoping to meet him again one day.

He started reading the article.

Not many insights were provided about the identity of the vigilante, only testimonies of the people he had saved, and the personal opinion of the journalist that thought vigilantes were only criminals.

Exactly what those girls needed to read about the person who had saved them… tsk, what a terrible journalist! 

Vigilantes weren’t criminals! And they weren’t even illegal. It’s a citizen's duty to try and intervene when there’s a bad situation, and if the citizen in question is masked while doing so it’s no one’s business. It’s not like he had broken any law. 

And Phoenix knew laws, he was a freaking attorney! 

Phoenix was on the verge of crumbling the paper and trashing it, but he hesitated, and looked at the picture accompanying the article.

It was blurry and in black and white, but still… it was familiar, in some way. 

Sure, Red Signal had never used a cape, before, but the overall design was really similar, especially the hood, the belt, the colors… it could be, couldn’t it?

…or this new vigilante was a fan of the real Signal Red, from the popular Signal Samurai Trio that had disbanded when Phoenix was still a kid.

Heck, maybe he was the real Signal Red, who changed his design a little and decided to come back as a vigilante.

Except… the vigilante wasn’t using the iconic spear, and he wasn’t dressed like a samurai…

But even if he wasn’t Signal Red, he could just be one of his fans, the possibility that he was his Red was minimal.

But still…

“Why aren’t you working?” an amused and nagging voice startled him, and Phoenix was quick to hide the newspaper, embarrassed to have been caught in the act of reading it.

“I was on a break” he justified himself, knowing he had every right to do so, once in a while.

Mia, the source of the nagging, smirked, amused at his reaction.

“It’s fine. Still looking for your old friend?” She asked, knowing about Phoenix’s investigation.

“He saved two girls last night… well… the vigilante saved them. I’m still not sure they are the same person” Phoenix sighed, disappointed by his lack of certainties.

“You’ll find out soon, I’m sure of it. You are so accident-prone that one night this vigilante will definitely save you too” Mia made fun of him and reassured him at the same time, and Phoenix didn’t know if he was supposed to feel grateful or offended.

He opted for a sad smile.

“Yeah… well… it’s not my fault I’m accident-prone, you know?” He defended himself, his hand unconsciously wandering towards the death mark on his right shoulder.

The last gift of his former girlfriend, the reason he had become a superhuman, and also the reason he’d die once every two weeks, at best.

Wherever he went, a mortal accident was bound to happen, and even when he was extremely cautious, there wasn’t much he could do to avoid the inevitable.

“I know, but maybe he will save you, one day, who knows” Mia decided to be more encouraging, and gave him a pat on the back.

That would have been awesome.

But Phoenix didn’t want to just be saved.

“Or maybe I can become a vigilante myself and team up with him” he suggested, trying to light some little fires at the tips of his fingers.

Two years had passed since the awakening, but Phoenix still couldn’t control his powers completely. He had no idea how his powers worked, first of all. He only knew they were related to fire, or heat, and that he could resurrect whenever he died, and that he usually went to the last place he was, or the last place he had thought about before dying, if he had the time to think of a place.

“Better not jump into it. The superhuman world is extremely dangerous” Mia warned him, as usual.

Phoenix nodded, and stopped the reluctant fire that was forming in his hands.

“Anyway… how was the client you met?” he changed the subject, putting the newspaper aside and going back to work.

“I won’t take this case, it’s hopeless” Mia shook her head, and sat down at her desk.

“Ow, really?”

“Not only the defendant looked down on me and didn’t want me as a lawyer, asking for a male one, but the prosecution is Miles Edgeworth. I have no intention of seeing that prick in court too soon” Mia crossed out something on her agenda, and started organizing some documents.

Phoenix giggled.

He knew how much his boss despised the infamous Demon Prosecutor.

Phoenix had never met him in person, but he knew a lot of stories about his awful morals and terrible tricks in court.

He was a perfectionist who never lost a case.

And those were the only things he knew about the man.

“I guess you dodged a bullet” he commented, looking at some papers himself. Not that he actually had much to do.

“And it isn’t the only one I will dodge in these times…” Mia muttered, mostly to herself.

“What do you mean, chief?” Phoenix’s attention was caught by her tone, and he turned towards her with confusion and a hint of worry.

“I… Phoenix, can I ask for a favor?” Mia looked around and then she began to whisper.

“Sure, anything” Phoenix approached her, to hear better. She was his savior and one of his best friends, of course he was going to do anything to help her.

“I need to hide some evidence. I think I’m being followed, and I can’t risk leaving these documents in the office. I’d take them home, but…” she began to explain, still looking around to make sure no one was listening, not even from outside the big office window.

The way was clear.

“Yeah, I understand. You don’t want to involve Maya too much, and I’m less likely to become a target” Phoenix guessed.

Mia nodded.

“Exactly”

“Mia, is it dangerous? Are you gonna be fine?” Phoenix started to worry. He wasn’t used to seeing his boss so alerted. She was a cautious person, but she was also pretty confident and optimistic. At the moment, she was extremely serious.

“It is dangerous, but I will be fine… I don’t think they know I already have this much, and it’s gonna be over soon, with the information I acquired” she smiled, trying to ease his worries.

“Is this about your big solo investigation?” Phoenix supposed. Ever since he was employed, he knew Mia was investigating alone about a big scandal. She had told him about it, but never gave him any detail. For his safety. She didn’t want him to become a target too.

Not that Phoenix was ever in any danger, considering his powers. He really wanted to help her more, but didn’t want to impose his presence and risk ruining everything. 

“Yes, but I can’t tell you much, I don’t want you to become a target” she repeated the same thing she always said to him regarding that subject.

“It’s okay. What do I have to take, and… are you sure you really want to make me transfer the important evidence… you know… since I’m accident prone and my inventory gets wiped out every time…” Phoenix reminded her of his limitations, a bit embarrassed but wanting to be clear and not compromising the evidence by mistake.

Mia smiled at him, reassuring.

“Don’t worry, it’s just backup. I have plenty of copies at the office. I just need a place to keep evidence if something bad happens… and someone comes here… just to be sure” like always, she had already put that into consideration. 

It wasn’t like Phoenix could die any moment… but he could die any moment, and it was better safe than sorry, especially regarding important stuff. Phoenix had already lost six phones, two attorney badges and plenty of clothes. He had spare for everything important, but he was more and more broke with each death. 

“Where is the evidence?” He asked, trying not to think too much about his death and his money. He was hoping he would get a case soon to make up for the loss of his eleventh watch. 

“Inside The Thinker” Mia pointed at the statue on her desk.

“I have to take home Larry’s clock?” Phoenix asked, recognizing it immediately but surprised she was going to give it to him.

“You have to take home Larry’s clock” Mia confirmed, looking a bit bashful.

“…you really don’t like it, don’t you?” Phoenix laughed at Mia’s guilty face.

“I tend to not like murder weapons… even if this clock in particular wasn’t used to kill anybody” Mia admitted, looking at the clock with a disapproving face, like it was guilty of murder itself.

“I understand, but I can’t be picky. Half my furniture killed me in some ways” Phoenix joked, and they both laughed at the dark humor.

“Anyway, I took off the clockwork to hide the evidence. When you go home, can you take it with you?” Mia asked him, taking the Thinker and extending it towards him with care. Phoenix took it with ease, and put it on his desk.

“Isn’t today Maya’s free evening, aka movie night at the office after dinner?” Phoenix remembered, looking at the calendar.

“Right! I almost forgot. You can take it home after movie night” Mia nodded, and took a note in her notebook. She seemed pretty distracted.

“Do you need anything, chief?” Phoenix gave his availability.

“Yes, actually! Can you help me settle the new glass ground lamp I bought yesterday?” Mia asked him, pointing at the other room, where the box with the new purchase was waiting for them.

“Of course! I’m on it!” Phoenix got there, and took the lamp with ease. Ever since he got powers, he’d been also pretty strong. 

Phoenix had no idea how his powers worked, to be honest. Sometimes it felt like he didn’t have just one, but plenty, uncontrollable, active, passive, hidden and evident, all at the same time.

So weird!

The rest of the day had been pretty normal. Classic day at the office without much work to do. The glass lamp had been placed in the office, the documents were saved inside the Thinker, and Phoenix had just taken take out from Maya’s favorite burger place. A little price to pay to be the one to choose a movie that night. 

Phoenix was getting sick of watching the Steel Samurai show over and over again.

When he entered the office, the lights were off.

And that was pretty unusual.

But at first, Phoenix didn’t really notice that something was wrong, and just thought that Mia had gotten somewhere for whatever reason, and Maya was late, as per usual. 

He placed the food on the table, and went for the light switch, when a bloodcurdling scream made him jump, and he stormed inside the main office, where Mia’s and his desks were located.

The vision that came before his eyes froze him on the spot. Phoenix couldn’t believe what was in front of him, and he hoped with every fiber of his heart, that it was just a terrible, horrible nightmare.

“Mia…” he murmured, taking a hesitant step towards the slumped body of his savior, boss and best friend on the floor, who was being shaken by a trembling and panicking Maya. The room was barely lightened up, but the scene was unmistakable.

“Sis wake up… sis… sis wake up…” Maya was muttering in a whisper. She hadn’t been the one to scream, that was for sure. She didn’t seem able to actually talk, her voice was too slurred.

Phoenix’s eyes wandered across the room, searching for something, anything that could have helped him and made him know what had happened, and what he could do.

He noticed the broken glass ground lamp… the Thinker on the floor… a bloody piece of paper… a figure looking out the window of the building in front of the office… blood… blood that had stained the carpet, the curtains… 

They needed to call an ambulance, and the police! 

Finally, Phoenix recovered from the shock, and he quickly took his phone.

Unfortunately, his trembling hands made him lose his grip, and the phone fell to the ground, shattering. Phoenix barely avoided a tiny piece that almost hit his eye, and ignored the fact that was his seventh lost phone. He looked around to spot the office landline phone, still wanting to call the police and an ambulance as soon as possible.

The noise had caught Maya’s attention, and she turned towards him, tears pouring copiously from her eyes.

“Phoenix… she’s… she’s not breathing…” she informed him, her voice coming out with immense difficulty, still grasping her sister like she was afraid she was going to disappear if she didn’t.

“I’m calling an ambulance. Everything is going to be fine” Phoenix tried to reassure her, grabbing the phone and dialing the number. The phone, unfortunately, wasn’t working. 

“Please! Come quick! The killer is still inside!” he heard from outside the building, and his heart missed a beat.

Killer? 

Inside?

Well, at least someone had already called the police, and probably witnessed something. He glanced at the figure in the building in front of the office window, and noticed she was a young woman, very pink, very panicked. She was probably the one that screamed alerting Phoenix.

Phoenix looked around, worried someone was hiding in the shadow, and quickly approached Maya, ready to protect her with one of his lives.

“K_k_killer?” she muttered, with a broken voice, hiding behind him, unconsciously searching for comfort.

“I think no one is here” Phoenix reassured her, and when panicking started to wither, and his heart to calm down, he finally really looked at Mia.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but it was clear, in front of him, illuminated by the light outside, and his own eyes, that were getting brighter in response to his distress.

He kneeled in front of her, and hesitantly put a hand on her neck, hoping to feel her heartbeat, even feeble. But everything was silent, and still.

No… it couldn’t be…

Phoenix retreated, not wanting to believe what was right in front of his eyes. The smell of blood was becoming unbearable, and he was starting to feel nauseous.

He had no idea how he could have helped, there was nothing he could do except wait for the police to arrive.

Something that happened incredibly fast.

Phoenix didn’t even have the time to fully look around the scene, talk to Maya, or ask the woman at the window what had happened, when a loud sound came from the entrance door, and Phoenix quickly stood up and went in that direction.

A swarm of police officers entered the building, guns in their hands, ready to fire.

“Freeze!” one of them said, and Phoenix raised his hands.

“I work here! We need an ambulance! My boss…” he started to explain, looking towards the office.

“Oh, so you work here? Well, we’ll take care of it now, pal. But right now you are at the scene of the crime and I must ask you to follow…” a detective, the only one without a gun pointed at him, entered the room with a calm and friendly demeanor, but while he was asking Phoenix to collaborate, he accidentally bumped into the man who was pointing the gun at Phoenix, causing an accidental fire.

Phoenix, who was on edge because of the whole situation, managed to dodge the bullet by crouching on himself, but he felt something grazing his head.

It literally missed by a hair. His curse was acting out that evening.

Probably because he was in distress.

The death mark seemed to recognize and act out following his emotions.

“Pal!” the clumsy detective scolded the gun-wielding one, who was fast to secure the weapon.

“Sorry, it was an accident”

Of course it was… it was always an accident… every single death had been an accident. That didn’t make them any better, but he had been lucky this time.

“Phoenix! Are you okay?” Maya came to the entrance, worried.

“Freeze!” the police officers pointed their guns at her.

“Stop! She’s Mia’s sister! We are not involved in this crime!” Phoenix put himself in front of her, to protect her. He could risk another accident on himself, but couldn’t risk Maya getting hurt.

“Alright, good. Step aside while we investigate the scene, and follow Dustin to get interrogated. We need to record your deposition” the big detective pointed at one of the officers again, this time without bumping into anyone, and Phoenix decided to comply. He didn’t have anything else to do, after all, and he was ready to provide all possible support to the police.

Especially if they could save Mia’s life.

They were gonna do that, right?

Mia was going to be fine… right?

But after a while, while he was repeating his version to the policeman Dustin, and Maya was doing the same, way more shaken, with someone else, two people exited the building, and Phoenix saw they were carrying a body, completely covered in a white cloth, that they then placed inside the ambulance. The doctors were shaking their heads, no sirens could be heard. 

Still… Phoenix couldn’t believe what was right in front of him, and he would have probably stayed in denial for a long while, if he didn’t lock eyes with Maya.

She also saw the body being taken away, and after an initial shock, the moment her gaze locked with Phoenix’s… she broke down.

Her knees gave out, and she started sobbing, incapable of stopping.

“Maya…” Phoenix tried to reach for her, but Dustin blocked him.

“Sorry, but I need to finish to take your deposition”, he said, pointing at his notebook.

“Please, let me…” Phoenix didn’t give up, but his futile attempt to object was blocked by the big detective, who came outside, and quickly noticed him.

“Hey, pal… sorry about earlier… do you know a Maya?” he asked, holding a piece of paper.

“What? Why?” Phoenix had no idea what would he have wanted from her, but he wasn’t going to talk before getting some insight.

“Yes, it’s that girl, Dick” Dustin answered for him.

The detective… Dick… turned towards her, and hesitated a moment, seeing her so desperate, sobbing uncontrollably on the floor, the police officer who had been interrogating her awkwardly patting her shoulder.

But after a long breath, he approached her.

“Maya?” he asked, to make sure.

She glanced at him, surprised “Y_Ye_s?”

The detective hesitated for a couple of seconds, but then he sighed, and took out some handcuffs.

“You are under arrest for this murder” he announced, professionally.

“What?” asked Maya, in a whisper.

“WHAT?!” exclaimed Phoenix, still trying to get closer, but getting restrained by Dustin.

“You can’t interfere with the arrest” he warned him.

“It wasn’t Maya” Phoenix objected, looking at his friend that was getting restrained.

They locked eyes again.

“Phoenix… help me…” she muttered, desperate.

“Maya… stay calm, okay! You didn’t do anything! I’ll visit you as soon as I can” he promised her.

Things were getting worse by the minute.

At that moment the street lamp above his head decided to explode, and all the pieces almost got to Phoenix, who managed to dodge at the very last second.

“Woah! Are you okay?” asked Dustin, calling some doctors to make sure he was fine.

Phoenix was fine, but Maya wasn’t.

And his curse wasn’t helping him stay alive enough to help her.

But he was going to! 

He’d do anything!

He spent the entire night at the precinct, and it was already morning when he finally was allowed to meet Maya. 

She was wearing an oversized prison uniform, her eyes were red and puffy, and it was clear she had spent the entire night awake, probably crying.

Phoenix wasn’t so much better, but at least he wasn’t accused of his sister’s murder, so his priority was to make sure Maya was gonna be safe soon.

“Phoenix… do you… do you know something, about… about this?” she asked. It had already been several minutes since they had reunited at the visitor’s room, but none of them had seemed capable of starting the conversation.

Phoenix did indeed know something. After a lot of questions and almost getting arrested himself because of his attitude, he had managed to obtain some information, especially regarding the reasons behind Maya’s arrest.

“It seems they have a witness who testified to have seen you yesterday, and… a piece of paper was found next to… with your name on it. They think you did it” Phoenix informed his friend, incapable of looking her in the eyes.

“But I didn’t! I would never! You… you believe me, right?” Maya defended herself, and then got hesitant.

“Of course I do!” Phoenix was quick to reassure her, and finally lifted his head, looking at her.

“You do?” she asked, almost surprised.

“Maya… I’d never doubt you, especially not on that! I… I will find a way to help you, I promise” he put a hand on the glass that was separating them, to prove his determination.

With a half smile, Maya did the same.

“You are going to be my lawyer, right?” she asked, hopeful.

Phoenix hesitated a little.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be her lawyer, he wanted to, but he didn’t feel like he was good enough to take Maya’s life in his hands.

He was a rookie defense attorney, he had only defended one person in his entire career, and he had never worked without Mia.

“Maya… I…” he didn’t know how to explain his internal turmoil, but Maya seemed to notice. She took away her hand, and shook her head a little.

“It’s okay, Phoenix. Can you do me a favor?” she asked, fidgeting with her fingers, nervously.

“Anything. I plan to do my best for this case, I just…” he started to justify himself.

“Can you call Marvin Grossberg for me? He’s a lawyer. Mia told me that if something ever happened to her and I needed a lawyer, I should have called him” Maya informed him of her request.

Phoenix felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest.

Of course Mia would have prepared for something like that. She was the queen of planning.

“You can count on me, Maya. I’ll make sure to have him as your lawyer” he promised her, encouraging.

“I’d rather have you, but since sis recommended him, I will trust him. I have until 8 pm to register my lawyer, they said the trial is tomorrow” Maya informed him, still pretty nervous.

“Already? Don’t worry. I’ll go straight to him to make sure he’ll accept your case” Phoenix stood up, ready to go and contribute to Maya’s acquittal. He had no time to waste.

“Thank you, Nick” Maya smiled, hopeful.

Phoenix noticed by the use of his nickname, that she was feeling a bit better, knowing she still had him to count on.

He smiled at her, confidently.

“I’ll visit you this afternoon” he promised her, before leaving the visitor’s room.

The moment he stepped out, he let out a sigh, composing himself. He had to concentrate and be meticulous. Find every information he could, assist Grossberg with this case, and bring Maya home.

He knew Grossberg. He was Mia’s former boss and he was her co-counsel two years prior, when Mia had defended Phoenix in court. He didn’t do much, on that particular occasion, but Phoenix had felt like he was a pretty good guy, all things considered. And he had definitely plenty of experience.

More than Phoenix, that’s for sure.

He searched for his phone to call his office and make an appointment, but he quickly realized he didn’t have a cellphone anymore, since it broke the night before, and he hadn’t gone home since.

Maybe he could use the police line? Or just go there and ask in person. It was a better strategy to make sure Grossberg was going to take Maya’s case.

He quickly looked around, searching for an exit, and spotted the detective that had arrested Maya. He was talking on the phone, and carrying a box full of evidence.

Phoenix had to get involved.

He discreetly approached the guy.

“Yes sir, of course, sir. I won’t disappoint you, sir! I’ll go to the prosecution office right away to give you the autopsy report, sir” he was saying, and he sounded like a loyal dog searching for recognition from his owner. Whoever was on the other side of the phone, was definitely an important person.

“You, pal, make sure to catalog the evidence. We can’t make any mistake” after the call, he turned to one of his colleagues, and his tone shifted completely. He was now casual and more friendly.

“I’m on it, detective Gumshoe” the officer answered, professionally.

Huh, Gumshoe… peculiar name.

“Wait, before that… can you bring me an autopsy report? I have to go to the prosecution office right away!” Gumshoe changed his plans abruptly, and the colleague nodded and obliged, disappearing to another room.

That was the best occasion to investigate a little.

“Good morning, detective… Gumshoe, isn’t it?” Phoenix approached him, casually.

“What? Oh, it’s you, pal. The attorney from yesterday” Gumshoe was taken by surprise, but quickly recovered, and smiled at Phoenix.

“Yes, it’s me… Uhm… I was wondering…” Phoenix tried to find the best words to approach the subject and obtain collaboration, but Gumshoe stopped him, after looking at him thoroughly.

“… wait… now that I see you better… you are that guy… Larry Butz, wasn’t it?” he asked, confidently.

Phoenix remained silent for a couple of seconds.

How dare he compare him to Larry?!

No one could compare him to Larry!

It was the worst insult ever!

But he needed to remain calm.

“No… my name is Phoenix Wright! And I’m… I was miss Mia Fey's former employee, and a lawyer myself” he pointed at his badge, his greatest joy “…So, since I’m a lawyer, and I work for Maya’s defense team… I was wondering if I could… look at the evidence, to prepare for the upcoming trial tomorrow” Phoenix pointed at the box, and exhibited his most charming and friendly smile.

Gumshoe seemed reasonable and friendly himself, right?

…wrong.

The detective frowned, and moved the box away from his reach.

“Sorry, pal, it’s confidential” he was adamant, and looked… sort of threatening? Was it even possible for someone so chill-looking?

“Okay… can I at least have the autopsy report? I’m supposed to be given a copy” Phoenix changed strategy, and asked for something Gumshoe couldn’t have refused to give him.

“I guess I should… wait here a moment, pal” and he gave in right away, leaving him alone with the evidence, unsupervised, while looking for an autopsy report.

…he was a bad detective.

Good for Phoenix.

He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to him, and quickly scanned through the evidence.

Pieces of glass… pieces of his phone… a receipt where Maya’s name was written with Mia’s blood, the food they were supposed to eat that day —with some bites missing? Who didn’t get paid enough that they had to steal from a crime scene to get something to eat—, and… the murder weapon.

Phoenix took it, and examined it carefully.

It was the statue of the Thinker, and it was completely empty. No documents inside, and the base was covered in blood. Did the documents fall out with the impact, or were they taken? Maybe the killer wanted to shut up Mia, it may have been related to her private investigation.

Unfortunately, Mia never talked with Phoenix about it.

He had no leads.

He sighed, and looked at the statue… no, wait, the clock, without his clockwork. Once again, a murder weapon. Phoenix should have known that a gift from Larry wasn’t going to bring anything good.

The sound of the door urged him to put everything back in place. He had seen everything he needed to see.

“Here you go, pal. The autopsy report, pretty accurate” Gumshoe approached him and offered him the thick envelope.

“Thank you, detective Gumshoe” Phoenix looked at it, and it seemed legit.

Death had been instantaneous, a single blow to the head… Phoenix couldn’t read more. It was too painful.

“Yeah, well… it’s not gonna help you much, let me tell you, pal” Gumshoe shook his head, took another autopsy report, and gave the evidence back to his colleague.

“Huh? Why?” Phoenix asked, confused.

“I don’t think you will win. Prosecutor Edgeworth was assigned to this case” Gumshoe informed him, and his eyes seemed to shine at the mention.

Phoenix’s heart skipped a beat.

“Prosecutor Edgeworth?” he repeated, hoping he had heard wrong.

“Yes, pal. You surely know about him, don’t you?” Gumshoe asked, looking at him suspiciously, as if just not knowing the likes of Miles Edgeworth was an unforgivable crime.

“Yes, of course I know… the Demon Prosecutor, that never lost a case and only cares for victory” Phoenix muttered. He couldn’t believe his luck. That was bound to be a disaster!

“Hey, don’t talk about him like…!” Gumshoe started to defend the guy who was probably his idol, but Phoenix already wasn’t listening to him anymore.

He went for the exit, making sure the autopsy report was safe with him, and hoping he wasn’t gonna die while reaching for Grossberg’s office.

That’d be so inconvenient, and time-wasting.

He couldn’t waste time! That was too important!

He didn’t die.

But he wasted a lot of time.

Plenty of accidents occurred in the way, that he barely avoided and slowed him down.

Then Grossberg made him wait for hours.

And when he finally entered his office… it was already mid-afternoon.

“Oh, hello, young man. Sorry for the wait. It’s been a busy day” Grossberg welcomed him with a jovial smile.

Phoenix, stressed, anxious, and very very scared for Maya, finally felt a bit of hope in his heart.

Yes, that was the lawyer recommended by Mia. He was definitely going to help.

Phoenix quickly explained the situation, giving as many details as possible and trying to sound as convincing as he could manage.

Grossberg heard him carefully, seemingly interested and very sad at hearing about Mia’s death.

“Maya Fey sure is a strong young woman, to endure all this” he nodded, at the end of the story, pretty troubled by the tale of Maya and Mia’s misfortunes.

“So, please, will you help her and represent her in court? The trial is tomorrow, and we don’t have much time to investigate” Phoenix finally made the official request.

He was definitely going to accept, right? He seemed so invested.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t” Grossberg refused, not looking directly at Phoenix, but shifting his eyes toward a giant painting in the room. It wasn’t a remarkable work of art, and Phoenix found it presumptuous. But it wasn’t time to think about paintings.

“What? But… Maya needs your help. Mia specifically trusted you with her!” Phoenix insisted.

“I know, but it’s simply not feasible for me. Not at the moment” Grossberg shook his head, and stood up, with the clear intention of dismissing him.

Phoenix stood up himself, but he had no intention of just going away.

“Then can you at least recommend me another lawyer? You are a respectable attorney, and I’m sure that if you…” he tried to negotiate.

Grossberg sighed.

“Look, young man… I don’t think any lawyer is going to take this case. It’s hopeless” he admitted, starting to be more honest.

But Phoenix couldn’t believe his ears.

“What? Why? Maya is innocent! We just… we just have to find a way to get the truth and…” Phoenix was starting to get worked up, and that meant heat… and fire.

Feeling the heat coming, he stopped himself, and calmed down before becoming an unintentional arsonist.

“…there must be something you can do, sir. For Mia, and Maya…” he tried to appeal to his goodwill and the relationship he had with his former protégée. He seemed to have cared for her. 

“This is… something I can’t fight. No one can. And you probably shouldn’t try it either, if you care about your job” Grossberg suggested, warning him.

“I don’t care about my job! I care about my friend! Is this about prosecutor Edgeworth? He’s the reason everyone would be too scared to take Maya’s case?” Phoenix inquired, already hating the guy for his mere existence. He seemed the worst kind of person and lawyer.

“Trust me, Miles Edgeworth is the least of your problems. But I said too much. You should go, Mr. Wright” Grossberg realized he made a slip of the tongue, and urged Phoenix to leave his office, opening the door himself, and catching the attention of his secretary, who approached them, and show Phoenix the way out.

Phoenix had a lot of objections, but couldn’t talk anymore, now that he was being forcibly removed from the room.

“Mia trusted you…” he muttered at the end, glaring at him.

Grossberg didn’t look at him, and closed the door, shutting him out.

Phoenix let out a long breath, to calm himself and not let his anger get out with flames.

He went out of the building, and started to go back to the precinct, to inform Maya of his… enormous failure.

Phoenix had no idea what to do.

He had no evidence, no lead, no proof that Maya didn’t commit murder except for his word that she would have never hurt her sister… or anybody else for that matter. He had no case… and no lawyer.

Maya trusted him.

She needed him.

But he wasn’t enough for her.

He was a rookie defense attorney, left without a guide, only one victory and one trial behind him, and he was going against the infamous Demon Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, who allegedly wasn’t even the worst threat of the upcoming trial.

He was doomed.

Maya was doomed.

Everything was helpless.

If only it had been Mia to go and get the food, the day before, by now Phoenix would have been the victim, and everything would have been fine.

But nothing was fine.

Absolutely nothing!

It was already 7 pm, Phoenix was walking under the rain, the sky was foggy, and dark despite it being September.

He had avoided every single accident that had beckoned him that day. 

A destroyed phone, a stray bullet, an exploded street lamp, two cars, a bike, a piece of concrete falling from a building, a tree branch with deadly intentions, and even a crazed copier that had decided to attempt on his life at the precinct.

He had avoided everything, still clinging to the hope that with his resilience he could have helped Maya, bring justice to Mia, and save the day.

But he wasn’t a superhero, nor a hero in general. Barely even a superhuman.

He was only a lousy lawyer, a cursed one, nonetheless.

Incapable of saving anyone.

He crossed the road without even checking if someone was coming, giving up completely on the case, and his life, if it came to it.

And then he saw red.

The red lights of a car coming towards him at full speed.

He probably could have avoided it, if he wanted to. He had a split second to act, after all, and he got plenty of training after all his deaths.

But he didn’t.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the impact.

Prying he could give his life to his late friend.

Too tired, heartbroken, and alone to find the strength to continue fighting.

He needed rest.

He felt a huge force shoving him away.

For one second, he didn’t feel anything.

It was like he was weightless, falling down.

He only knew he was dying. 

Then he felt the ground again, and something heavy on top of him.

And that was strange, and oddly familiar.

Not the usual death familiarity.

He opened his eyes slightly, and saw red.

Red all around him.

Red wasn’t the color of death.

It was either black, or white.

Never red.

Only one time, the first time.

Wait…

The weight on top of him moved, standing up with ease.

“I should report the vehicle straight away. This is a blatant infringement of the street code” he heard someone muttered.

And at that moment, while his vision got cleared, and he started to feel his body again, Phoenix realized he wasn’t dead.

For the first time in two years, someone had managed to save him, even when he himself had given up on life.

No one else ever did.

No one else ever managed to realize he was in danger, before one of his accidents struck him. Sometimes he himself managed to notice, but only because he was always searching for them, always on edge, ready for the next one that was surely coming.

But this time… this time someone had saved him.

Phoenix lifted his head towards the person, who was writing something in a notebook.

He was completely dressed in red and black, with a hood, a cape, and a very good physique.

Phoenix had seen only blurred pictures of the subject, but he knew right away it was the mysterious masked red vigilante.

Almost like he could feel Phoenix’s gaze, the vigilante turned towards him. His face was completely covered by a black mask, with a red smaller mask over it.

He looked a bit scary, but Phoenix had never seen something that beautiful.

“Are you okay? Did you hurt you..?” the superhuman started to ask, but stopped mid-sentence after having a good look at Phoenix, still sitting on the ground.

He seemed a bit startled.

“Red… is that you? It’s you, isn’t it?” Phoenix found himself asking, almost supplicant.

He got up as fast as he could, and took the cape’s edge of the vigilante, who seemed on the verge of running away, trying to keep him in place. 

“…Phoenix” he muttered, surprised, maybe even a bit scared. Not that Phoenix was good at discerning people’s emotions by their voices.

But that little word was a confirmation.

That was Red Signal.

His Red!

His savior, friend, and reason he became an attorney who specialized in superhumans in the first place.

Before he could control himself, he walked over to Red, and wrapped him in a hug he had longed for far too long.

After all this time, after that awful day, he had finally found his childhood best friend, and he had finally found hope.

And he wasn’t going to let it go.

Chapter Text

Phoenix broke the hug as fast as he had initiated it, without giving Red time to reciprocate or push away. 

“Sorry, that was… I’m just… I’ve been looking for you for… years, and…” he started mumbling an apology, feeling pretty embarrassed by his sudden and impulsive gesture.

It had been years, after all, and that friendship had lasted for a couple months, when they were both eight. It was reasonable to think that Red had moved on and remembered Phoenix only as a kid he had once saved.

And he had now been saved again.

Maybe after the third save, Phoenix was going to get a fidelity card.

He wouldn’t have minded it.

Not that he wanted to be saved again by Red… didn’t he?

God, the lack of sleep and the sudden meeting weren’t letting him think straight, he was such a lost cause!

After a couple seconds of silence, Red finally talked, interrupting Phoenix’s mumbling.

“You should be more careful when you cross the road” he warned him, with atonic voice.

Phoenix’s face dropped. He hadn’t expected such a cold greeting, to be honest, but maybe he should have. He probably hadn’t been as important to Red as much as Red had been important to him. He could accept that. But still, he was pretty disappointed, and he suddenly felt even more self-conscious… and his face was probably redder than Red himself.

“Y_yes, I… I suppose I… should… sorry” he looked down, embarrassed. 

“I… I’m just saying that because… I don’t want you to get hurt, P_Phoenix” Red stumbled a little more when formulating the next sentence, and Phoenix glanced at him to find the man fidgeting nervously with his gloves.

It was like a deja-vu. Red did this even as a child, every time he didn’t know what to say or how to act.

Even after all those years, that was still his Red.

Phoenix felt a little bit more confident, thinking they could be in the same emotional situation.

“Yeah… we should stop meeting each other like this” Phoenix tried to lighten the mood a little with a joke, that sounded more like a flirt, and he mentally slapped himself for the cringness of his statement.

“I agree… anyway, are you okay? You didn’t get hurt, didn’t you?” Red asked, checking Phoenix from head to toe, looking for possible scratches.

His superpower was a super-vision that made him capable of noticing even the tiniest of detail, and that made him also capable of foresee possible dangers. It was a passive-hidden power, with no provable effects, and that he couldn’t really control, but Phoenix found it extraordinary anyway, because Red had found a way to use it to do good. He was truly an admirable person.

An admirable person that had asked Phoenix a question he had to respond to, so quit simping, and answer, you idiot!

“I feel totally fine, you completely saved me there, not even a scratch” he reassured Red, showing off his totally —and surprisingly— safe body.

“I’m glad” Red nodded a bit. It couldn’t really be seen with his double mask on, but Phoenix could swear he had hinted at a smile. He could feel it in the way the mask moved, and his voice.

They remained silent for some moments, which seemed like hours, and were full of unspoken words.

They were looking at each other, trying to grasp every detail, noticing every change and everything that had stayed the same. And it was clear as day that they both were pretty moved by their reunion.

Then, the moment ended, and it was Red who stopped it.

“I suggest you go to the hospital anyway. You may have bumped your head, and effects of head trauma could manifest hours after the…” he suggested, worried for him.

And his words were like a wake-up call, for Phoenix, who suddenly remembered what he was supposed to do, why he risked his life in the first place, and what had happened less than a day before.

It was like the rescue with subsequent reunion had put Phoenix in a little bubble where everything was fine, and wholesome, and perfect. And now that bubble had burst.

“What time is it?” he asked, worried, looking at his wristwatch.

“Seven fifteen…” Red answered for him, a bit confused, after checking Phoenix’s watch faster than Phoenix himself.

“I’m late! I have to go! She’s waiting for me!” Phoenix switched back to being helpless, anxious, and checked that he hadn’t dropped anything in the fall.

“I see… good luck” Red was taken aback by Phoenix’s sudden agitation, but he didn’t inquire. He was too polite. He looked around, ready to leave too.

Phoenix stopped on his tracks.

That wasn’t the reunion he had in mind.

In his imagination, he was always free and ready to talk for hours.

Right now, he couldn’t afford that.

Maya was more important, and he had no idea what to do or say to her. It was the worst possible timing for a reunion.

…and probably the best.

Because seeing Red again, after all that time, had reminded him of the reason why he had become a lawyer, of the struggle that had brought him this far: to defend people, to try, in his own small way, to be a hero too, like his idol, like Red.

And a hero would do anything to save others.

And Phoenix was going to save Maya, no matter what.

He would have brought justice to Mia.

He was going to be her best friend's defense attorney, and if that meant taking down the unbeatable Miles Edgeworth… he was going to do it! It would have been the first one to succeed in defeating him!

Red had given him strength!

…ironic, right?

But Phoenix couldn't leave like this without thanking him, without saying goodbye, without the certainty that he would be able to see him again.

“Wait… I… sorry, I want to stay more, and I’m really, really happy to have met you again… but I’m late, and it’s a life or death situation, and… thank you… for saving me, for everything you do, and…” Phoenix didn’t know how to express what he was feeling at that moment.

It was impossible to explain with words.

It was more than gratitude, it was hope, regret, happiness, sadness, longing… it was so many things.

And he couldn’t express all those things to Red Signal in the first place. 

They were basically strangers.

“Don’t worry about your… I also have a prior engagement…” Red reassured him, and turned around, ready to leave “I… It was a pleasure to meet you again, Phoenix Wright. Stay out of trouble” he gave Phoenix a last look.

It seemed like a farewell.

“I still go to our park, sometimes… usually in the afternoon” he shouted at last, hoping to see Red again at their old meeting place.

Red didn’t acknowledge his last words, but Phoenix noticed he hesitated a little before disappearing like a shadow in the night.

The rain had soaked him completely, but Phoenix didn’t care.

And he started running, with newfound confidence —ergo less chances of dying— and ready to destroy a prosecutor in court. He also hoped he would have seen Red soon, maybe after brutally defeating that said prosecutor in court.

…the irony here is stellar!

“Okay, so… the killer entered the office while I was away, and you hadn’t come in yet. He… or she… knew about the information stored inside the thinker, and they took them, and used the thinker to… you know what… and then they went away, and you came after a couple minutes I guess… and you found Mia, and then I came, and found you, and…” the trial was due to start in a few minutes, but Phoenix wasn’t ready at all. He was sitting with Maya in the lobby, waiting for the doors to open, and frantically looking at the evidence. There wasn’t much to work with, to be honest.

“…Mia never told you anything about her investigation, didn’t she?” he asked Maya, who was playing with her hair, nervously. She was still a little shaken, but she was doing her best to stay strong.

“She never told me anything about it. I only know it was dangerous, and in some ways it involved our mother. But I don’t know anything else” she shrugged, thinking hard about the subject.

“You can’t… ask her, can you?” Phoenix suggested, a little hesitant. It was a difficult matter.

Maya shook her head.

“I tried, but I can’t…” she looked at her hands, and sighed “…I can’t. I’m sorry. Spirit channeling is a difficult power to master” 

Phoenix patted her gently on her shoulder.

“It’s okay… interrogating the victim is not admissible in court, anyway… but there is something that bothers me about the evidence…” Phoenix looked at everything in his possession: the clock, the autopsy report, the receipt with Maya’s name… 

Maya looked from behind his shoulder.

“I’m wondering… how did the killer know the evidence was there in the first place” she noticed, pointing at the statue of the thinker.

Yeah… that was a good observation. The only two people who knew about the clock were Mia and Phoenix himself.

There was no way someone else knew about them.

Unless…

His reasoning was interrupted by the sudden appearance of two people in the lobby, that were talking about the case, looking at evidence.

“Remember to expound the facts in the clearest way possible, without getting lost in useless details” one of the men was saying to the other, that Phoenix immediately recognized as the detective in charge: Gumshoe.

“Of course sir, my testimony will be perfect, sir” the detective replied, with the same tone of undying loyalty and respect he used for… 

Phoenix looked at the man beside Detective Gumshoe, just as he was passing by him.

“That better be the case, I want this to be…” while replying to the detective, the man glanced at where Phoenix was sitting, and for a single moment their eyes met.

His voice trailed off, he stopped in his tracks, and glanced at him once more.

This all happened in the split of a second, so Phoenix didn’t notice his sudden confusion.

Because in the time of a blink, the man, whom Phoenix had already recognized as Demon Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, continued to walk, and looked at his documents again.

“So, who’s the defense attorney, again?” he asked the detective, his voice still cold and indifferent like before, but way less loud, like he was trying not to be heard by Phoenix himself.

Phoenix heard him anyway, and he felt called into question.

“It was decided last moment, sir… I don’t remember, but I think it’s… yes, Butz, Larry Butz!” Gumshoe answered, with certainty.

“Larry became a lawyer?” asked Prosecutor Edgeworth, bewildered.

And Phoenix was too outraged by the mishap to realize Edgeworth had talked about Larry like he knew him.

“My name’s Phoenix Wright, and I will be representing Miss Fey at the trial, today” he introduced himself, standing up and approaching the duo.

Prosecutor Edgeworth didn’t even acknowledge his presence.

“I suppose this takes away your reliability as a witness, not that you were going to be one in the first place...” he commented, looking at his document.

This little…

“I don’t see how my reliability as a witness connects with my role as a defense attorney. I personally think it cements the fact that my client is definitely innocent” Phoenix retorted, already feeling furious at that rude and dismissing guy. With his nerdy glasses, and his strong physique, and his handsome face… wait, what?!

“Your argument is really naive. A word of advice, don’t toss your career for a trial you are going to lose in very little time” finally, Prosecutor Edgeworth looked at him, for a split second, with sharp eyes and a sharp tone.

He was so unpleasant that Phoenix managed to focus again immediately. Screw that handsome face! He was awful!

“Thanks for the advice, Mr. Edgeworth, but you should be the one to follow it” he suggested, hinting a smile.

Prosecutor Edgeworth didn’t reply.

The detective was on the verge to, but the other man stopped him with a gesture, and then he proceeded to turn around, and leave, acting like Phoenix didn’t even exist.

“The second witness just came, we need to talk to her, Detective” he encouraged Gumshoe to follow him, and quickly disappeared in the corridor. Phoenix sat down again, fuming… quite literally.

“Calm down, Nick” Maya nudged him a little.

“He is awful!” Phoenix justified his flaming fury. Maya shrugged.

“That’s prosecutor Edgeworth for you… really, Nick, why did you start an argument?! My life is on the line!” she objected. Just then, an officer called for them. They needed to separate and get ready for the trial.

“That’s why I’m gonna win, Maya. Miles Edgeworth can do nothing against me!” he said, as a last thing, before entering the court.

Miles Edgeworth did everything against Phoenix.

He was good, infuriatingly so.

He couldn’t be human! 

Maybe he was some kind of passive-hidden superhuman? 

Nah, someone as cold as him could never be a superhuman and be so cold and judgmental towards them as he was now being with Maya.

April May's testimony leaked everywhere, yet for every hole Phoenix found, Miles Edgeworth had a plug ready.

He even had the audacity to update the autopsy report in the middle of the trial! Who does something like this?!

It couldn't be a normal person! He was over-prepared.

And Phoenix was realizing every second more that he, on the contrary, was not at all.

He only had a few pieces of that intricate puzzle.

Even April May seemed to have more information than he did.

…and frankly, her knowledge was pretty suspicious, it had to be said.

“Please repeat your testimony one more time…” Phoenix was trying to find something to object to, but to tell the truth, he didn't exactly know the dynamics of the accident, so it was more a way of getting to understand things himself.

“Your Honor, the witness has repeated the testimony several times already. I don't think there's a need to hear it again” Prosecutor Edgeworth tried to object, rolling his eyes, annoyed.

“I have yet to conclude my cross-examination. I just need to hear the witness one last time, Your Honor,” Phoenix insisted firmly.

“If you like hearing my voice so much, just say so, lawyer boy. I know it's hard to resist my charms.” The witness winked in Phoenix's direction and tried to strike a seductive pose.

Phoenix cringed. 

There was no way he would be attracted to someone like April May. 

If a nice face was enough to sway him, he would have let Prosecutor Edgeworth win.

…wait, he had to focus!

“Miss May, please repeat your testimony” he insisted, professionally.

“Tsk, you are not my type, anyway…” the girl scoffed, annoyed.

“This is wasting everyone’s time!” objected Prosecutor Edgeworth, pretty annoyed.

“Hey, it’s not my fault she’s flirting with me, it’s unsolicited” Phoenix justified himself.

“Order! Order! Miss May, please, proceed” the judge encouraged April May to repeat her testimony.

“Ugh… as I already said, the victim, you know, the woman, dodged the first attack and ran off to the right. Then the girl with the weird clothes ran after her… And she hit her with that weapon! Simple as that” April May repeated, bored.

Focus, Phoenix, focus.

What was Mia’s lesson? If you can’t find contradictions, press and press until they crack! Details were necessary to understand a case better.

“The weapon… yes… what was the weapon? Did you see it?” he asked, trying to understand things better. 

“Yeah, I saw, it was pretty big and recognizable” April May had an attitude.

“And what was this weapon?” she seemed to avoid the question, so Phoenix pressed. If she didn’t know, then maybe she couldn’t have seen Maya clearly.

But April May made a smug smile.

“It was that big ugly clock shaped like the Thinker, dummy” she answered, confident.

…okay, she knew.

She even knew it was a clock. She was really informed.

“A… clock?” whispered Prosecutor Edgeworth, a bit confused.

“Yeah, a clock, Larry…” Phoenix started to explain, then it struck to him.

How did she knew that?! 

How was she so informed that she knew that the Thinker was a clock?! Mia had taken the internal mechanism out to hide some documents, and the only people who knew that was a clock were Mia, Maya, Larry and himself.

Not even Prosecutor Edgeworth knew!

“Objection! How do you know that?!” he asked, startling April.

“What? How do I know what?” she retorted, confused by Phoenix’s sudden confidence.

“How do you know that the murder weapon is a clock?” Phoenix insisted, happy to finally have a lead on that case. He still had no idea how to use the newly acquired information, but at least he was going somewhere, right?

“What do you mean?” the woman glanced at prosecutor Edgeworth, searching for his help.

“Miss May is probably confused. The murder weapon is a statue” Edgeworth came to his aid, and looked at the evidence, pointing out what everyone in the room thought.

But they were all wrong!

“Hold it! The murder weapon is indeed a clock, that tells the time when the head is hit, but not many people outside the office knew about it. How does Miss May know this information if she has no relation to the victim?!” Phoenix explained, pointing at the little lever on the neck, and setting a little trap that he hoped Miss May would have fallen into.

“I… I…” she was completely taken aback, looking around the room searching for an answer.

“Objection! Lacks foundation!” Edgeworth tried to save her, but she panicked, so she justified herself anyway.

“I heard it!” she exclaimed, confidently.

There were a couple seconds of silence. Miss May had fallen right into Phoenix’s trap.

He was starting to get hope.

There was something strange in April May’s testimony, and he was going to expose her!

“You heard the clock, Miss May?” asked the judge, surprised.

“Yes, when the weapon struck the girl, I heard it tell the time! I almost forgot. That’s why I knew it was a clock” April May added a piece to her testimony, confidently.

“Objection! There was no way the clock was telling the time, because the clockwork was taken out the day of the murder. It was completely silent that night” Phoenix destroyed her testimony, and a bit of her credibility.

“Right… I forgot…” Miss May put a hand on her mouth, censoring herself and glancing around the room, like she thought someone was spying on her.

“What did you forget, Miss May?” Phoenix prompted her, pressing her further.

“Nothing! I… I… er…” the woman looked toward Edgeworth, who shook his head.

“Objection! We can’t be sure that the clockwork was taken out before the murder. It may have fallen out after the murder. Do you have evidence of your claim?” Edgeworth objected, calmly. It was a solid rebuttal.

“I… don’t. The only people who knew about it were me and Mia. We talked about it the day of the murder, alone at the office” he explained, in a whisper. There was no recording, no proof, nothing.

“So we can’t be sure the victim didn’t hear the clock when it hit her” Edgeworth concluded, matter-of-factly, hinting a little bow.

“You have my testimony!” Phoenix tried to object.

“You are an unreliable witness, Mr. Wright” Edgeworth didn’t let him.

“Well… er…”

He was stuck, there was no way to prove the clockwork had been taken out before the murder. 

Phoenix took a breath, and tried to focus.

He could almost hear Mia’s voice in his ear.

See it from another perspective. He didn’t have to prove the clockwork was taken before the murder. He had to prove that the clockwork couldn’t possibly have been taken after.

“Did someone find a clockwork at the scene of the crime? I know for a fact that Mia had put it in the storage. Far from the crime scene. If you didn’t find a clockwork at the crime scene, there is no way it fell out after the crime! So Miss May… is lying!” he finally managed to object to Edgeworth’s point, and prove that the witness was definitely lying to the court. Her credibility was less than before.

“Uh… I… well… I didn’t hear it, but… but… I…” the witness started to mumble disconnected words. 

“Objection! Your honor, this has nothing to do with the case…” Edgeworth, sensing he couldn’t win flawlessly, tried to close the subject, but again, Miss May replied before he could finish his defense of her.

“I saw it!” she changed version again. Another step toward losing her credibility further.

Edgeworth facepalmed. He was really trying his best to salvage his case, but April May was making his attempts futile.

“Saw it? Saw it where?” The judge was interested in where the testimony was heading.

“I saw that model in a store, that’s why I knew it was a clock” she explained, regaining her confidence. Misplaced confidence.

“Come on, your Honor! She changed story like four times already! She’s not a reliable witness!” Maya noticed, pointing at April May, who glared at her.

“Miss May is probably a bit startled. Can we get a recess to assess the case and…” Prosecutor Edgeworth tried to take a hold of the case, but Phoenix couldn’t give up now that he had a lead!

“The only confused witness is a lying witness! And I object to Miss May’s last statement. There was no way for her to have seen the clock on the shelves, because this clock was handmade by Larry Butz, and there are only two copies in the world” Phoenix explained. 

“She may have seen the other copy” Edgeworth tried to help Miss May.

“Yes! I…” and she jumped in the wagon immediately.

Phoenix didn’t even let her finish, and shook his head.

“Not possible, because the other copy is in the archives of solved cases, because it was used as a weapon for the murder of Cindy Stone, one month ago. No one other than the few involved in the case knows that the statue is a clock, so how does this unrelated witness know this private information?” 

“Objection! This is irrelevant”

“No, it’s not irrelevant! This information casts doubt on the witness' reliability of her deposition. Knowing information that she may not have known shows a clear relationship between her and the victim, and may give her a motive for harming Mia” Phoenix insisted, pointing at April May, who withdrew on herself, startled by the accusation.

“A motive?” asked the judge, surprised.

“The reason the clockwork was taken away was because the victim put some important documents inside. I thought only me and Mia knew of the existence of those documents, but I can assert for certain that Miss May also knows about them, because they were discussed in the same conversation about the clock! And Miss May clearly knows about the clock” okay, that was a stretch, but Phoenix needed to bluff a little if he wanted to cast suspicion onto someone else. He had no idea who was the actual killer, but as long as Maya wasn’t the only suspect, he could get time to investigate further about them. And the most important thing was to prove Maya’s innocence. That was his priority. 

Unfortunately, Prosecutor Edgeworth saw right into his bluff.

“And your proof is…? We searched the entire office and didn’t find a wiretap or anything, really. The fact that no one knew about those documents means that they probably don’t exist, you are just trying to manipulate the judge, and you are doing a terrible job at that, quite frankly. This is just circumstantial” he objected, shaking his head and looking down at Phoenix with a condescending gaze.

“And her testimony is baloney! She changed version five times!” Phoenix dig at her credibility, which had now reached top bottom.

“Yeah! Exactly!” Maya backed him up vigorously. 

“It’s not a crime to be a bit confused. She probably heard about the clock somewhere else. Maybe she heard you two talking outside court. Memory is such a complex thing” Edgeworth dismissed the objection like it wasn’t that important, and the judge seemed to agree, because he started to nod.

Phoenix had no idea how to object to that, it was plausible.

“Yeah, I did! I did! You talked about the investigation and the clock and those fake documents. You were inventing a case that doesn’t exist, all about some investigation the victim was doing” April May jumped on the opportunity, and gave quite a detailed summary of what Phoenix and Maya had discussed before the trial.

She was so informed, it was scary!

Wait…

There was no way she could have known that, either.

She was nowhere in sight during that conversation.

She wasn’t even at the…

“Prosecutor Edgeworth. When was the witness called this morning?” he asked, suddenly remembering something.

“She arrived before the start of the trial, approximatively at… wait…” Edgeworth started to answer, but quickly stopped talking after he realized what Phoenix was going for.

“After we introduced ourselves, didn’t she?” Phoenix concluded for him, with an innocent smile.

Edgeworth didn’t reply. His expression became an iron mask.

“I’m sure Detective Gumshoe and the court security will confirm that she arrived right before me and Miss Fey were separated before the trial. So how did she hear our conversation?” Phoenix shared his discovery.

“What are you suggesting, Mr. Wright?” asked the Judge, confused.

“She’s a superhuman with an active-hidden power that makes her hear private conversations even when she’s not present” he accused her, and by the way the woman flinched, he probably hit his target.

Everyone in the room gasped.

But the silence didn’t last long.

“Objection! There is no way to prove that’s the case!” Edgeworth was quick to object.

“Hold it! There is enough evidence to instigate a deeper investigation! If my claim turns out to be true, it’d prove beyond reasonable doubt that the witness knew more than she let on, and that’s suspicious!” Phoenix counter-objected, trying with every fiber of his being to prolong the trial to search for more evidence to acquit Maya. He needed time and information.

“Well… we could order a blood test under those circumstances” the judge nodded, convinced by Phoenix’s rhetoric.

And April May… snapped.

She became a totally different person, furious and full of hatred.

“Wait! No! I refuse a blood test! I’m… I have an alibi for the time of the murder! I didn’t kill the victim! So there is no need to do a blood test!” she seemed terrified at the idea, and Phoenix couldn’t blame her. Blood tests didn’t confirm a superhuman ability, only that the person was a superhuman, and sometimes the type of ability. Active-hidden superhumans weren’t the most popular type. It would have destroyed her reputation.

Phoenix didn’t like the idea of exposing her like that, but she deserved it. Her power was invasive and dangerous. The information she had obtained contributed to killing a woman! Even if it wasn’t her, she was clearly involved with the murder! She needed to be stopped! 

“And who can confirm your alibi?” asked Phoenix, unconvinced.

“The bellboy of the hotel” April May explained, with new-found confidence but still with a hateful and bitter gaze.

“Well, I think we should call him” the Judge ordered.

He was a fair man.

“Fortunately I had arranged to call him as a witness just in case, although I didn't think it would be relevant. Miss May's alibi is spotless” Edgeworth called a bailiff with confidence, and he didn’t seem worried at all about the incoming testimony. 

He was really prepared.

And Phoenix was improvising completely and he had no idea who to accuse to save Maya.

April May probably did have a perfect alibi, and Phoenix did see her right after the murder, there was no way she had killed Mia, changed her clothes, went back to the hotel unnoticed and pretended to have just seen the scene while calling the police, unless she had the superpower of speed or time manipulation. But Phoenix was pretty confident she was only an eavesdropper. And nobody had more than one power.

She probably worked for someone she had sold the information to, and that same someone was Mia’s killer. Was he… or she… someone she worked with on a daily basis, or did she sell information to random people? 

No, it was probably someone she was well acquainted with, someone she was working for for a while, and decided to strike because Mia was going to figure everything out soon. Her big solo investigation.

If only Phoenix had enough time to investigate on April May’s acquaintances. She was a secretary to a big CEO… could he be involved?

“Wait a minute, Miss May!” right before she was dismissed, Phoenix decided to ask her one last question.

“What do you want, lawyer boy!” the woman looked at him with such hatred that if glares could kill… Phoenix would have been dead twice. It sent shivers down his spine.

“Mr. Wright. The witness was dismissed. You should have thought about your question before” Edgeworth tried to stop the further inquiry.

“It’s just a simple curiosity. Why were you at the Hotel, that night?” Phoenix asked, casually.

“None of your business… work stuff” she answered, shrugging. She clearly wasn’t going to say more.

Work… so it might have been related to the CEO… or maybe it was her second work as an eavesdropper. Maybe she needed to be close to hear something, a block or two maximum. 

“Thank you, Miss May” it didn’t give him much to work with, but it was still something.

“What did you want to obtain with this?” Edgeworth asked, pushing his glasses on the bridge of his nose, taking advantage of the lapse of time between the exit of Miss May, and the arrival of the bellboy.

“Trying to get as much information as possible, you know… to solve this case and find the truth. Never heard of this in law school?” Phoenix replied sarcastically.

“You should stop embarrassing yourself and this entire court with your baseless conjectures. I’m warning you, Mr. Wright, you don’t want to continue this case” Edgeworth replied, unimpressed, crossing his arms.

“Because I do have a strong case?” Phoenix retorted. Something about Edgeworth’s attitude was completely unbearable. He couldn’t stop the sass.

“You might get hurt” the prosecutor’s voice was sharp.

And scary.

“Are you threatening me?” 

“Order! Order in the court! The bellboy is ready to testify” the judge interrupted the quarrel, and caught the lawyers’ attention.

The bellboy had arrived at the stand, and he… had a tray with tea? At a trial? Was that even allowed?

“Please, state your name and occupation,” asked Edgeworth, returning professional.

“Woah, I’ve never been in a court before. Everything is so big and serious” the bellboy commented.

“Name and occupation, please” Edgeworth insisted.

“Oh, yeah! Right! I’m a bellboy at the Gatewater Hotel” the witness presented himself.

“Nam… okay. Can you tell us what happened the night of the murder concerning Miss April May?” Edgeworth gave up on getting his name, which was probably already in the court record —it wasn’t— and proceeded with his questioning.

“Of course!” the bellboy agreed, then he started to testify.

“I believe I received a call after 8:00 in the evening from our guest, Miss May. She asked for an ice coffee to be brought to her at 9:00, on the dot, sir. I brought it to her at precisely the requested time, of course. And I delivered the ice coffee to our guest Miss May, herself” he testified.

…it was a perfect testimony.

“Your honor, as you can see, Miss May had the perfect alibi. I don’t think there is a need to even cross-examine the witness” Edgeworth illustrated.

“I will do it, your honor. It’s my right as an attorney” Phoenix was quick to object. He had to cross-examine the bellboy and obtain enough information to at least prolong the trial.

“Proceed, Mr. Wright” the judge gave him a nod. 

Edgeworth shrugged and didn’t object further.

“You won’t find anything” he just said, in a whisper.

And… well… Phoenix didn’t find anything.

He pressed and pressed, but there was nothing he could work with.

But then a thought crossed his mind.

Think outside the box…

If April was there for work… maybe she wasn’t alone.

“So… Mr…” crap, what was his name again? Whatever… “…bellboy, can you tell me about room preparation. What room was Miss May in?” he started to ask. He couldn’t be direct, he needed to get the bellboy to confess the information himself.

“It was room 303, sir” he answered, professionally.

“And what kind of room was it?” Phoenix insisted.

“A very elegant room, sir” 

“And who paid for that?” he pressed again.

“It was paid with a credit card, sir”

Dang it! He was good!

Time to bring in the big guns!

“Did Miss May pay for it, or the person that was with her?” he asked, casually.

“Objec…” Edgeworth caught his bluff right away, but fortunately for Phoenix, the bellboy was too busy answering to realize that.

“The man with her, sir” he replied with a smile.

“Oh… so there was a man with Miss May?” Phoenix asked, innocently.

“Uh? Er…” the bellboy glanced at Edgeworth, a bit worried, realizing just now his slip of the tongue. Edgeworth looked like he had just eaten a whole lemon.

“Answer the question, Mr… bellboy” the judge prompted him.

“Yes, there was a man with Miss May. They checked in together and they were in the same room” he admitted.

Eureka!

Yes! 

Finally a lead!

“Objection, your honor! Lacks relevance!” Edgeworth tried to dismiss the new information, but Phoenix wasn’t going to let it go! He wasn’t Elsa from Frozen! He was a fire person, not an ice person.

“Hold it! It is really relevant! We just figure out that a man we don’t know anything about was on the room with Miss May the night of the murder” he insisted.

“There is no proof that man was near the crime scene the night of the murder” Edgeworth wasn’t giving up either. 

“But we know for a fact that Miss May knew about private information, and she was with a man, she may have told the information to this man, and there might be a motive to…” Phoenix knew there were many ‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’, but he had nothing else to work with. He could just hope Edgeworth wouldn’t object with…

“Objection, speculation” …he did.

He couldn’t give up!

Never give up!

“Hold it! I request a throughout investigation of this man! We can’t continue this trial if we don’t have all the information!” he addressed the judge, hoping to convince him to extend the trial for another day. It was getting late, after all.

The judge caressed his beard.

“Mmmm… Mr. Wright is right… oh, his surname kinda sounds like the word right, that’s funny. Anyway… we should get ahold of this man that was with Miss May at the hotel, just to be sure. He may have seen something” he decided to take Phoenix’s side.

“As you say, your honor” Edgeworth finally gave up, but glared at Phoenix again. 

“I hereby extend the trial to one more day. Court adjourned!” the Judge let down his gavel, and Phoenix felt like a big weight had been taken from his shoulders. He smiled at Maya, who replied with thumbs up. She was still worried, but was relieved too.

For a moment, Phoenix’s eyes met Edgeworth. The prosecutor was looking at him with a hint of worry, but he was quick to avoid his gaze, and start to organize his documents.

The case wasn’t won yet, but now Phoenix had every intention of getting as much information as possible about every possible suspect. Someone had to have killed Mia, and he was going to bring them to justice!

Chapter Text

Yeah, Phoenix had won a battle, but the war was still on and his enemy had a great advantage. 

Miles Edgeworth was even worse than Mia had told him. That smug face, those threatening words… he was seriously the worst!

And good at his job, infuriatingly so.

Phoenix knew he had to be several steps ahead if he wanted to have an even slight chance of succeeding to free Maya and get the real culprit behind bars. Catching the killer was probably the only way to clear Maya’s name, and he wanted to avenge Mia and bring justice to the table.

(Not Apollo Justice, he didn’t know he even existed, and he was only thirteen at the moment, so not really useful).

First thing first, he had to talk with Maya and make sure she was okay.

Unfortunately, they were interrogating her and keeping him waiting.

That was absurd!

They already knew everything Maya had to say! The police was clearly interrogating her just to keep Phoenix from doing the same.

Wait…

Shouldn’t he have been with her, while she was being interrogated?!

Phoenix stood up and approached a bailiff, rather irritated.

“If my client is being questioned, she has the right to be in the presence of her attorney!” he reminded him, determined to assert himself.

The bailiff looked at him from head to toe, not impressed at all.

“Perhaps her attorney should have told her her rights, because since she didn’t request the presence of such attorney, she can safely be questioned individually” he informed him, indifferently.

“But that’s not fair! I have the right to go in!” Phoenix insisted, determined not to let anyone walk all over him.

“Well… you should have thought of that before… incompetent novice” the bailiff dismissed him, and Phoenix felt like he was about to burn something.

He forced himself to calm down. Every time he got nervous, bad things always happened.

“Can you tell me when I can see her?” he tried to ask, gathering all his self-control.

“No, come back later,” the bailiff, however, was far from affable, and showed him the way out with little elegance, muttering about the incompetence of defense attorneys.

Phoenix sighed and considered what to do. On one hand, he had to talk to Maya and ask for help, as well as reassure her. He wanted to check on her condition as soon as possible.

On the other hand, he risked losing precious time while waiting, and he didn’t want to be unprepared for another trial.

While he was weighing his options, he noticed a pink spot coming out of an interrogation room from the corner of his eye, and he turned to her, realizing that it was the unmistakable April May.

Interesting…

Phoenix waited until the woman was alone, and approached her, casually.

April May, however, noticed him immediately, and the expression that appeared on her face was comparable to that of someone who had just received a little gift from a pigeon. 

“Good morning Miss May,” Phoenix greeted her, trying to be polite.

“You know where you can stick your good morning, lawyer-boy!” in response April gave him the middle finger and probably if she hadn’t found herself in the middle of a police station, she would have also tried to kill him directly because her eyes declared a clear killer intent.

Okay, maybe accusing a witness and trying to force her to take a test to check if she was a superhuman wasn’t exactly the best way to curry favor with her.

“I wanted to ask you some questions,” he tried to seek collaboration, anyway.

“Shove those questions in there, too, along with your good morning.” April turned her back on him and walked away from him.

Phoenix hurried after her.

Until he could talk to Maya, he had no idea how to proceed.

And finding out at least the name of the man who was with Miss May that night could be a great turning point.

Under normal circumstances, Phoenix wouldn’t have started pressuring someone like April May, because he was supposed to find out the information through official channels, but it was clear that no one would tell him anything about that case, so it was better to be resourceful…

“We still have time to do a blood test, if you don’t answer me,” he threatened her, nonchalantly.

…and use dirty tricks.

It wasn’t like Phoenix, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

And that woman was almost certainly indirectly responsible for Mia’s death, she didn’t deserve any mercy.

April gave him a look so piercing that if looks could kill Phoenix would have dropped dead on the spot, but luckily he only nearly tripped over a discarded soda can and managed to keep his balance.

“You wouldn’t dare.” she muttered with gritted teeth.

“You want to risk it?” Phoenix bluffed keeping his gaze fixed on her. 

He had to look determined and confident. A true lawyer no one could beat. She had to think he had the upper hand. 

After an intense stare battle, April May looked away. 

“What do you want from me?!” she turned her back on him, and tried to flee the scene.

No, Phoenix couldn’t allow it!

He followed her, promptly pressing and not giving her too much time to think between his questions. 

“Who was with you that night?”

“I have no idea who you’re talking about”

“Who’s your boss?”

“Why would I tell you?”

“Miss May, is it really worth risking so much to protect a murderer?”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about, lousy lawyer!”

“Is he threatening you in any way? Is that why you do these dirty jobs for him?”

“I’d rather die than risk Mr. White’s wrath.”

“White?”

Ah ah! 

Got her!

April covered her mouth, said nothing else, and ran away before Phoenix could ask more.

Well, at least he had a name now. 

White… Mr. White.

So that was the name of the man that was with Miss May the night of the murder.

The first suspect Phoenix had to investigate.

…who was Mr. White, again? 

There were probably hundreds of Mr. Whites in Japanifornia. 

No, seriously, was there a more common last name than ‘White’?!

Phoenix was getting nowhere, and he had no time to waste.

He glanced toward the barred door of the interrogation room, and decided it was better to stop by later.

He had other plans at the moment.

Phoenix made a mental calculation of what he had to do: first he had to talk to the Bellboy whose name was still unknown, he could have helped him find out who April May was with that night.

Then he had to look for information on Mia’s secret investigation, which would surely turn out to be a source of enormous information on the motive of whoever killed her.

Of course he had to talk to Maya and compare the information they had, and… maybe he could ask Grossberg for clarifications about his behavior. He had acted suspicious when he had refused to help Maya.

Maybe he knew who Mr. White was.

Phoenix had many things to do, plenty of people to interrogate, and… a lot of cycling ahead of him, since the places he had to visit were so far from one another.

Better go, without waisting any more time.

The bellboy didn’t help him much, just yapped about the murder hotel and how happy he was about the whole ordeal. He was a weird man, and Phoenix… still couldn’t get his name. It was going to come up, somewhere… he hoped.

Well, he wasn’t that important. 

Phoenix then looked around the office, searching for any clue on some Mr. White, but the W section of Mia’s documents, always organized and tidy, was completely gone.

A suspicious fact that urged Phoenix to search for clues with someone that was probably more informed than he wanted to let on.

“Mr. Grossberg, please, I really need to talk to you” Phoenix was crying for the lawyer to let him enter his office, while security tried to shove him out of the building.

He had biked there losing a lot of precious time, he wasn’t going away without an answer.

“Mia trusted you! Maya needs you! I just want to talk” he insisted, more loudly.

No sound came from behind the office door.

“I know about you and Mr. White!” Phoenix bluffed, and for a moment, it seemed like his accusation had fallen on deaf ears.

Then, the door opened, and Mr. Grossberg let out his head, surprise tinting his features.

“L_let him enter” he ordered security, in a whisper.

The guards looked at each other, then shrugged, and finally let go of Phoenix, who quickly entered the office, not wasting more time arguing.

“My boy, I don’t know what I could do for you… I don’t…” Grossberg tried to stop Phoenix’s inquire before it even begun, but there was no time to waste, and Phoenix was already pretty pissed by the awful trial, the unjust treatment Maya was suffering, and three almost-deadly accidents that occurred only on the way there, so he wasn’t in the mood to be cordial and chit-chat.

“Who is Mr. White, and why is everyone so scared of him?” he immediately asked.

“Uh… I was under the impression you…” Grossberg looked quite concerned. He had completely fallen for the bluff. 

“I have no idea who he is, I can’t find any record of him. The prosecution is tight-lipped, but you know who he is. Tell me… please?” after a menacing explanation, Phenix tried to bargain with a slight formality and cordial tone, just to convince Grossberg he could talk to him, like old pals, or something.

“I don’t know who…” the senior attorney shook his head.

Okay, no more mr. Nice Guy. 

“Objection! You know, you let me enter because you thought I knew about him” he pointed out, making him notice his slip-up.

“You bluffed” complained Grossberg.

Yeah, duh? He was a lawyer. Those were the most important tricks to obtain information. Law 101. The basics! 

“I learned that from Mia, someone you seemed to care for. Someone this Mr. White might have killed. I won’t tell anyone what you tell me. I just need to know who he is so that I can have a clearer sight of what happened. You might not want to defend Maya, but I will, and I will find whoever killed my best friend. I need to know!” after failing with intimidation, Phenix tried the empathy route.

He was tired of running in circles like that.

No one seemed on their side, he was Maya’s last hope. And it wasn’t just about defending Maya, but also bringing justice to Mia. He couldn’t fail. He couldn’t give up.

Despite how little the chances of success seemed to be.

Grossberg sighed.

“She was… a remarkable lawyer. So strong and capable, never giving up, despite everything she went through” he reminisced, sadly. 

“Please, Mr. Grossberg. Please help Mia” Phoenix bowed, respectfully, hoping to get some actual help and information. 

“Alright, Mr. Wright…” and at the end, the lawyer complied, and gestured for Phoenix to sit on the leather sofa of his office.

Finally!

Phoenix sat down, ready to hear any explanation. He would usually take notes, but those confidences seemed rather private, so it was better to just keep them in his mind… hoping April May wasn’t near the building ready to eavesdrop on him.

“Redd White… is the president of Bluecorp, and one of the main reasons Mia’s mother, Misty Fey, was forced to disappear” Grossberg began his explanation.

Phoenix was flabbergasted.

Redd White?! Seriously?! Why was that man called like Phoenix’s childhood hero and childhood best friend?! It was so unfair! Phoenix didn’t want to associate the two! There was only one Red around, and it was his Red Signal! 

…no, wait, there were more pressing matters, at the moment.

Focus, Phoenix! Don’t get distracted like usual.

“What? Mia’s mother? What happened?” he pressed. 

“It was a case of fifteen years ago, involving superhumans. The DL-6 incident. Police was stuck, so they decided to involve a superhuman with incredible abilities. Misty Fey had the power to channel spirits. It’s one of the few active-evident powers regarding death and the spirit realm. She was called to channel the victim and point to the killer. Due to the sensible nature of the case, it was a very secretive investigation, but Mr. White got to know about that… I was the one who shared the information with him, and he published it, causing a great scandal” Grossberg explained, bashful about the admission of his guilt.

Those were a lot of things to process, but the case was quite familiar, in some way.

“Wait… I think I studied about it. I don’t know the dynamic of the case, since it’s still unsolved and it wasn’t made public, but it caused a precedent, right? The DL-6 rule that forbids to use spirit channeling or similar type of active-evident powers regarding spirits and death in investigations or in court due to the unreliable nature of those powers” Phoenix remembered. He did a thesis on superhuman laws to graduate, he still remembered a thing or two. 

“That’s right, my boy. Because of that, Misty Fey was seen as a fake. People said she couldn’t really channel spirits, but only change her features. She was forced to leave her household and her two daughters” Grossberg concluded.

“All that because you passed the information to the wrong person” Phoenix didn’t want to sound too judging or accusative, but the idea of Mia and Maya being left basically orphans because of the man in front of him, a man who had refused to defend Maya in court because of a guy he had once aided… it angered him deeply.

Phoenix tried his best to keep his calm. He couldn’t lose his cool.

…literally.

When he got nervous or angry he tended to overheat and he couldn’t do that and show his powers.

“And Mr. White is blackmailing me ever since. He’s the master of information, and has many different ways to gather them” Grossberg tried to defend himself and his choices.

Phoenix wasn’t surprised by that.

“Like superhumans with eavesdropping abilities, right?” he thought about April May. She was probably one of many. 

Those powers were awful. 

“Probably… yes. That woman might have listened to this conversation, too. It’s impossible to fight Mr. White. He has blackmailing material on everyone. Mia was trying her best to uncover him, but… you see how it went. He’s dangerous, and he’s untouchable” Grossberg sighed, hopeless. 

The subtext was clear: you are bound to lose, Phoenix. There is no way of winning this.

But Phoenix couldn’t give up.

He had become a lawyer for that reason: to fight for the people who needed it the most. The ones that were left behind, abandoned and alone because of their lineage, power or because there were people strong enough to bend the justice with their hands. 

“Everyone has a weakness. If Mia had to be… silenced, it means that she had a lead. A good lead. She was getting there. I just need to find that lead and… walk that road…” 

“And end up like her? I don’t think it’s what she would have wanted. You won’t succeed, boy. He’s too powerful” Grossberg shook his head. 

“At least I’ll try. It’s the only thing I can do. Worst case scenario, I’ll die trying” Phoenix sighed and stood up to exit the room. There wasn’t much else Grossberg could offer him.

Also… he literally couldn’t die, so he was good to go. 

“Be careful” the lawyer said at last, before Phoenix was out.

Well… now Phoenix had to skim every document in the office looking for clues.

Or… go to Bluecorp to face Redd White head on.

…the second option was definitely dangerous and not very smart, but… Bluecorp was closer than the office.

Phoenix had to see with his own eyes the person responsible for Mia’s death, didn’t he? Interrogate him to see if he was actually his man.

No one was investigating him, he had to do that job.

He searched the building on the map, and went there.

He wasn’t going down without a fight.

For once, waiting hadn’t been that bad. 

It made Phoenix lose a lot of time, and it was twilight when he finally was let in Redd White’s office, but it gave him all the time to search for information regarding Mr. White and Bluecorp in the archives of the building he managed to access while he waited, with the excuse of needing to go to the bathroom.

Not exactly mind-blowing or case-related information that could have turned the whole trial over, but at least now Phoenix knew who that guy was. 

A business man, the CEO and creator of Bluecorp, and a normal human, no superpowers known. But he assured all his employees that there was no discrimination at Bluecorp regarding superhumans. Everyone was accepted in that big, beautiful family! 

Yeah, right… 

Phoenix would have bet his whole salary that superhumans were more than accepted, likely exploited for their powers in any way White would consider useful. 

And since superhumans were largely frowned upon, unless they were acclaimed superheroes, Phoenix was sure that White was taking advantage of that fact to blackmail them into working for him even with unlawful situations, to make sure their powers wouldn’t be disclosed to the public.

Phoenix had also learned that every employee needed to perform a private blood test, just to be sure.

The exploitation behind the scene was so evident it almost made Phoenix nauseous.

Just how powerful was Mr. White to have that whole building full of unregistered superhumans working for him in various fields and no one investigating that?! 

And why was his name Redd, of all things?! 

That was the most infuriating part.

But, fortunately, thinking about Red, his Red, Red Signal his hero, made Phoenix even more determined to face Mr. White and bring justice to the table.

Finally, he was called into his office.

And things went downhill from there.

Phoenix quickly realized he had made a terrible mistake, coming there and facing Mr. White head on. 

The man was comfortably sat on his desk, his golden desk with the most awful design Phoenix ever saw, feet on it, relaxed and slightly amused by his presence.

Phoenix had to divert his eyes, at first. That man was like a freaking disco ball, covered in jewelry and trinkets, and dressed in bright pink. His tie was so ugly Phoenix wondered if he even owned mirrors, but then he realized his fashion statement was probably proof of his social standing.

He could dress however he wanted, because he was so powerful no one could say anything about it. 

Well, Phoenix might have been physically blinded, but he wasn’t going to get swayed by this alleged power. 

He approached the desk with a polite smile, hiding his contempt, and offered the man his hand.

He had to play safely. And not be hostile from the get-go. He had no idea if he was actually involved, and he needed to get as much information as he could. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. White. Thank you for having received me” 

“I’m not pleased at all, Mr. Wrong. I was just about to go to dinner, ya know?” White didn’t shake his hand, and just looked at his rings, bored. “You have five minutes until I call guards to escort you out. What do you want?” 

Ugh, he was unbearable. 

“It came to my attention that you were with Miss May at the Gatewater hotel during the time of Mia’s murder” Phoenix got straight to the point, still collected and calm, despite his annoyance. 

“And your evidence is…?” White didn’t even look at him, completely uninterested. 

“Testimony from both Miss May and Mr… the bellboy at the hotel, who recognized you” Phoenix bluffed. The bellboy hadn’t actually recognized him, but Phoenix was sure he would if he saw him. He had confirmed that himself during their brief encounter. 

“Mmmm, I see… so what?” Mr. White shrugged, unaffected by the evidence.

“Well, can you provide your testimony of the night of the murder?” Phoenix pressed him. 

“I could… but I don’t want to” White shrugged again. 

“Why wouldn’t you do it? You have something to hide?” Phoenix insisted.

He wasn’t going to give up.

It was a battle between an unstoppable force and an immovable object.

Phoenix was going to move that object. 

He needed that testimony. He needed to put White on the spot, push him towards the stand, so that he could battle him in his domain. 

“My affairs are pretty private. I don’t want media coverage” White, however, had no intention to comply. 

“You could be accused of obstruction of justice if you refuse to testify. This trial is not public domain, anyway” Phoenix shot down his excuse. 

“Are you a cop? Also… time’s up” White tried to dismiss him, but Phoenix had set a timer. 

“I still have two minutes, Mr. White” he showed him on his cheap wristwatch. 

Finally, Redd White looked at him, his relaxed expression had a trace of annoyance. Phoenix was getting under his skin.

Dangerous, but… exactly what Phoenix wanted. 

The annoyance, unfortunately, only lasted a second, and White grinned. 

“Then make them count. You have nothing on me, Wrong… shouldn’t have lost all this time here before the trial” he candidly admitted he had purposefully stalled him by making him wait. 

Phoenix had had enough. 

Fortunately for White and Phoenix himself, he had gotten really good at controlling his moods, so he didn’t accidentally set the ugly desk on fire, but he lost his patience, and decided to be more direct.

“You killed Mia” he accused, bluntly. 

White wasn’t affected at all.

“And you certainly have evidence to prove it, right?” He taunted him, amused by his accusation as if Phoenix was a little kid putting up a show.

“I might not have solid evidence, as of now, but I will find them. Miss May’s testimony is lacking, the prosecution has no solid basis to accuse Maya, you are refusing to testify, so this trial will be extended, and that will give me all the time in the world to find evidence against you” Phoenix bluffed. Considering Prosecutor Edgeworth’s influence and his competence, he was pretty sure he was going to find a way to convict Maya despite the lack of solid evidence, but Phoenix had to press White to persuade him to testify in court. He had to scare him. 

“You are being quite confident, Mr. Wrong… for a novice without a mentor who only got lucky thus far” White was still smiling, but he straightened on his chair, and tensed a bit. 

“Mia was getting closer, wasn’t she? And the documents she had, that you stole, are not the only evidence out there. I will end what she had begun, you will lose, Mr. White” he threatened, turning his back on White to exit the building, hoping his bluff was good enough. 

“I see…” White whispered, then his voice became more flirtatious “Darling…” he called out loud, making Phoenix turn immediately, taken aback by the sudden shift in mood.

He let out a sigh of relief when he noticed White wasn’t trying to flirt with him but was talking with his new secretary, Miss Darling, on the phone.  

“…can you call the prosecution and tell them I’m going to testify tomorrow in court?” He asked her, looking at Phoenix right in the eyes.

His expression was almost predatory. 

Phoenix did his best to not let out any emotion.

“What?” He asked, feigning surprise. 

White saw through his facade. 

“That was your intention, wasn’t it? Lure me to make me testify and then try to put the blame on me in court like you did with that man, Shawit, right?” He stood up from his chair and walked around his desk to face Phoenix more clearly. He was taller and stronger, but Phoenix wasn’t intimidated. 

“If you are guilty and you lie then it’s only my job to prove that. You should just tell the truth” Phoenix looked at him innocently, but was a bit on edge. If White had seen through his bluff, why did he agree to testify, anyway? 

He either had a plan, or he was feeling threatened. 

Both options were quite dangerous.

“You really don’t understand anything, it’s almost endearing… I didn’t want to testify because it’s completely useless, but you got my attention and my curiosity. I like seeing my enemies crumble and break… and I can’t wait to see that in court, tomorrow. Like I saw Miss Fey in her last moment” Mr. White’s smile became more sly and cunning, almost like a growl.

Phoenix felt a lump in his stomach. 

“So you admit you killed her” it wasn’t a question, but a certainty.

Until that moment, Phoenix’s accusation had been only speculation on his part. He was trying to put together pieces of an incomplete puzzle, and was bluffing his way out of that trial, doing everything he could to protect Maya. 

Now… he was offered the truth.

The man in front of him had killed Mia.

His mind and his heart finally grasped that truth.

He was conversing with his best friend’s killer.

“Why you ask? Do you have a wiretap on you or something? Come on! That’s so ’72” a killer who kept taunting him and provoking him.

If only he had recorded that confession… but they both knew Phoenix didn’t have a wiretap on him. Not only he couldn’t afford something like that, but he was checked upon entering in the office. Security was tight in that building.

And that was probably the only reason Phoenix was still there talking and not out of the door, running for his life.

Mr. White wasn’t so stupid that he would try to kill him while he was in his office, right? There were a lot of witnesses who saw him.

Not that Phoenix was in the right state of mind to think about his safety, at the moment. There was only hatred in his heart, directed to the person who had killed his best friend in cold blood and was trying to frame her sister. 

“A web of eavesdropping superhumans at hand is more contemporary, right, Mr. White?” He replied to the provocation, with gritted teeth. 

“You are very annoying, you know? But tomorrow you’ll see that you have no power, and I have all of it. If I say Maya Fey killed her sister, that will be the truth. If I say the sky is green, that will be the truth. I make truths happen. That is power, Mr. Wrong” he made his rings shine in the light of the twilight coming from the window.

His confidence was absolute and infuriating.

But Phoenix wasn’t intimidated.

He was pissed! 

“It’s Mr. Wright… and no matter what power you think you have, it won’t be enough to buy the truth. As long as I live, I won’t give up! Mia, Maya and Misty will have justice!” He promised, approaching Mr. White and looking at him in the eye, to show his resolve.

Unstoppable force.

Immovable object.

They stared at each other for some seconds.

Then the object averted his eyes, thoughtful. 

“As long as you live?” He whispered, looking at something on his desk that Phoenix couldn’t see from his position.

He didn’t want to talk anymore. He had a trial to get ready for, and no more time to waste. He turned his back to White, and went to the door. 

“It’s a promise, Mr. White… I’ll see you in court” he dismissed himself. Not only he needed to get out of there for work-related business, but he was also feeling pretty hot. His powers were responding to his anger and he wanted to set something on fire. He had to cool down. 

Unfortunately, when Phoenix turned the handle, a click announced that the door had been locked.

Oh no…

“Not so fast… you just gave me an amazing idea!” Mr. White’s voice was suddenly more cheerful. 

“Wh—?!” Phoenix turned again, but was stopped when something he couldn’t identify hit his head, almost knocking him out. 

Phoenix fell on the ground, blood clouding his vision, that was becoming blurry. His head was thumping with pain, he was barely conscious. 

He tried to stand, but White, who had approached silently while Phoenix had his back turned, kept him on the ground. 

“I was thinking of accusing Miss Fey and call it a day, but this will be even faster, and way easier. I’ll make you disappear, accuse you, everyone will think you escaped, and Mia’s legacy and her investigations will die with her. Happy Ending!” White chuckled while monologuing his plan, and bended towards Phoenix. He lifted the paperweight he had grabbed from his desk, already stained with Phoenix's blood, ready for the killing blow. 

“You won’t get away with this” with his last strength, Phoenix let out the most cliche last words. 

White let out a blood-chilling laugh. 

“I bet I will. That is power, Wrong!” He said last, before striking and finishing the job. 

Phoenix closed his eyes, and the next moment, he was dead. 

He thought he was used to death, by now. It had happened time and time again, for two years.

But until that moment, every single one of his deaths was an accident of some sort.

There was never intent to kill, and while some of his other deaths had been more violent, it was still extremely disturbing being the victim of a murder. 

Even his first time, the first death, had been, all things considered, an accident. 

Accidents and murders were different things. Could the intention behind the act influence his survival, in some way, and his resurrection?

Phoenix had no idea, and he was terrified of not being able to turn back to life. Was that his last death?

Was he really going to die there, on the floor of the worst looking office, by the hands of his best friend’s killer who was going to accuse him of said best friend’s death?

It was a possibility.

But a possibility Phoenix couldn’t let happen.

He had a trial to win, by any mean necessary.

He had to save Maya from whatever accusation could be made against her.

He had to save himself from the accusation that his own killer was going to do against him. 

And he had to bring justice to Mia.

He was going to survive, one way or another. 

And White was going to pay!  

He was going to show that blackmailer, murderer and exploiter who had the real power!

It was the last thought Phoenix had before oblivion.

Miles Edgeworth was having some really bad days, lately. 

And those glasses were giving him a migraine.

No, it probably wasn’t the glasses, but that infuriating man: Phoenix Wright.

Why did he have to come back into his life at the worst possible moment?!

Why was he the defense attorney at that particular trial?! The one trial Miles was forced to prosecute.

“I was told to put the best prosecutor I have on this case” had been the chief prosecutor’s words, when she assigned Miles on the case.

“I’m honored for your trust, but I’m already working on a case, shouldn’t you give this one to prosecutor von Karma? He is unbeatable” Miles had tried to object. He was in the middle of another investigation, after all.

“You know he’s currently overseas, and there is no time to waste. I want this case closed with a guilty verdict as soon as possible. The victim… she was an admirable woman, she deserves justice” 

“What about the case I’m currently working on?” 

“I’ll entrust it to prosecutor Portsman”

“As you wish, prosecutor Skye” 

And there he was, struggling to find hard evidence in a case that was standing on unreliable testimony, and with a migraine that was really hurting him and incapacitating his ability to use logic. Half his mind was also occupied with thoughts and images of a man he expected to never see again, and that was now haunting him both inside and outside the courtroom.

Phoenix Wright attracted trouble like honey attracted flies. How was it possible to risk one’s life not once, but thrice? The two car accidents… the fire two years before… not that Miles had kept tabs on him, he just got to know accidentally one day, reading the newspaper… and accidentally spit tea all over it, making Gumshoe buy another copy just to read the article and make sure Phoenix Wright was fine and not dead.

Just… accidentally, yeah.

He didn’t care about Phoenix Wright.

He was just an old friend… an acquaintance, even. A person he had once saved with his other identity. 

And he hung out with.

…daily.

For months.

But after THAT fateful day… Miles hadn’t even thought about Phoenix Wright, just barely remembered him as someone from his past.

Someone he was never going to see again.

Just another ghost.

And now the ghost was there.

And he hadn’t changed at all. 

Yes, he was taller, and quite… good-looking, to be completely honest. His smile was bright, almost literally. His blue eyes shone like jewels. Also he was well-built, noticeable despite that unfitting suit. And he was still as determined and energetic as usual.

And so incredibly naive.

Yet… quite brilliant.

And amazing at working in stressful situations.

He did have good objections and great intuition.

But his luck was running out soon, Miles was going to make sure of that.

The next day, at that trial, he was going to convict Maya Fey of murder. 

Because she was the murderer, right?

Yes, of course it was her! There was evidence, and Miss May’s testimony wasn’t necessarily untruthful just because she had been spying on Fey & Co. Law offices and someone else was in the room with her.

…right?

Truth was, evidence wasn’t backing up his claim.

And Miles’ head was almost bursting because of the migraine.

Still, he couldn’t take off his glasses.

He unconsciously knew that the moment he would take them off and look at that case with his superhuman vision… he was going to realize that he was prosecuting an innocent victim, and he couldn’t have that realization. He had to do his job, and do it right. And accuse Miss Maya Fey of murder. 

Miles closed and rubbed his eyes, trying his best to find in his mind any proof Maya Fey was actually guilty, but there was none.

…she had no motive to kill her sister.

But it could still be her, right?

Sometimes sisters killed each other.

Like sometimes children killed their parents.

Family was statistically more likely to commit murder… even without a motive.

A scene came in his mind.

An elevator.

A gun. 

All black.

Then a scream.

Miles shook his head, trying to push that scene on the back of his mind. That was not the time to think about those trivial memories.

He had a trial to win. 

A defendant to declare guilty.

Another life to ruin in the name of justice.

“Prosecutor Edgeworth, sir!” the annoying voice of detective Gumshoe shook him from his thoughts, and for once Miles was happy for the distraction.

“Yes, detective Gumshoe, you have news to share?” he asked, hopeful but professional, sitting more straightly and pretending to look at the autopsy report for the umpteenth time, searching for… whatever.

“Yes, sir. I just came from the precinct. We have a new witness that claims to have seen the murder with his eyes” Gumshoe informed him.

“I suppose it’s Mr. White. He finally decided to testify?” Miles nodded. If his declaration matched with Miss May, it was the nail on the coffin for Maya Fey.

Redd White probably decided to back up his secretary’s claim and admit to have witnessed the murder to quickly close the ca… 

“Yes! He did! But he said it wasn’t the defendant, but someone else” Gumshoe broke Miles’ train of thoughts.

…someone else?

That was so… unexpected.

Not totally and completely unpleasant, but it destroyed Miles’ case completely. He had to interrogate the witness right away and find out everything he had seen.

“Then who?” Miles took a sip of tea, to finish it quickly and visit Mr. White right away.

“The attorney! Phoenix Wright! He’s the killer!” 

Miles spit the tea immediately, staining the autopsy report.

“What?!” he exclaimed, shocked.

Wright?

Phoenix Wright?

A murderer?!

It made… no sense.

No sense whatsoever.

Why would he even defend Maya in the first place if he was the true culprit?

Maybe to make sure she would be found guilty?

But in that case, why did he fight so valiantly to protect her? 

To remove lingering doubts about his guilt?

Why had April May accused Miss Fey if it was actually Wright?

Did her and Wright have a relationship? Were they accomplices?

No, it wasn’t possible! Wright was never going to accuse her of being a superhuman, if that was the case.

Unless he wanted to stop their collaboration and discard her credibility to make sure she could never accuse him.

It was a stretch, though.  

Miles was trying his best to make sense of a situation that didn’t make any sense, his thoughts the quicker they had been in years.

“Are you okay, sir? Was that too hot?” Gumshoe in the meantime didn’t understand his shock and did his best to dry the documents and the desk.

“When can I interrogate the witness? I have to prepare him thoroughly” Miles had to speak with White.

He had to make sense of that mess. 

“He doesn’t want to be prepared. He said he has everything under control and that he will be ready for tomorrow’s trial” Gumshoe informed him.

“What about Mr. Wright? Was he arrested? Was Miss Fey released?” if he couldn’t interrogate White, then maybe he could have a chat with Wright. Not ideal for Miles’ migraine, but he had to start somewhere.

He needed answers! 

“No, sir. Unfortunately we can’t find Mr. Wright anywhere, we think he’s trying to escape. But we’ll find him before the trial, we have organized search parties everywhere! And Miss Fey is still being questioned, to be safe” Gumshoe informed him, proud.

There was only one thing to do: call in quits!

Miles couldn’t prosecute the case with such a trembling basis.

He was going to pass it on Payne, or whoever else.

He just couldn’t prosecute that case!

And he had every right to refuse: he was called to prosecute a case against Maya Fey, not Phoenix Wright. It was like a whole new case altogether.

But before he could take the phone to call the chief prosecutor, he received a call… from the chief prosecutor. 

He already knew what was going to happen before he even lifted the handset.

“Prosecutor Edgeworth speaking” his voice was glum. 

“I heard the defendant changed. Whoever Mr. White has pointed at, is guilty. This doesn’t change anything” Prosecutor Skye was quick to shoot down whatever objection Miles was going to make. 

“But… miss… the witness refuses to speak about what he has witnessed. I can’t work under those conditions. There is not even a defendant to accuse, as of now” Miles tried to object anyway, hoping he wasn’t sounding like a spoiled child that didn’t want to do his homework.

His request of giving up the case was completely reasonable. 

“He will be found, and there is no need to have him present for the trial, as you know. Mr. White requested you specifically, you need to comply, Mr. Edgeworth. It’s your job” the chief prosecutor insisted, categorical. 

It wasn’t a suggestion. It was an order.

Fine… 

FINE!

“Of course, prosecutor Skye… I will obtain my verdict, as always” Miles assured, before closing the call.

It was his job.

The job he had chosen.

His punishment.

He had to do it, no questions asked.

Even if the defendant was Phoenix Wright.

(…and he couldn’t even say there was a conflict of interests because he knew the defendant personally… since not even the defendant was aware of the fact that Miles knew him personally, it wasn’t something Miles could disclose carelessly… darn it!)

“Do you need something, sir?” Gumshoe waited for more orders, noticing his distress, and looking at Miles with worry.

Miles hated that look. He wasn’t a lost puppy. The news had just barely disoriented him, that’s all.

Miles took a deep breath and composed himself again. 

He took off his glasses, his eyes closed, and slowly cleaned them.

That was probably the worst case he had ever prosecuted. A half assed autopsy report, little evidence, unreliable and unprepared witnesses, changing defendants…

But he had to obtain his verdict.

It didn’t matter if it was Phoenix Wright, on the stand, being accused of murder.

He was just a person Miles once knew.

And fifteen years had passed since then.

So what if he looked and acted the same: kind, energetic, and bright?

What if he had no reason to kill his boss and best friend?

What if he had almost died in a car crash the day after the murder because he was clearly too distressed and in mourning to be careful while crossing the street?

He could definitely be a murderer.

He was probably a murderer.

And Miles was going to prove that.

“Give me an aspirin, detective. And make Mr. White write a statement on what he’s going to say tomorrow. That much he can do. Also… find Phoenix Wright” he ordered the detective, his gaze cold and confident.

He was going to obtain his guilty verdict.

And he was going to do that while looking at Phoenix Wright in those bright blue eyes.

…one last time.

Chapter Text

The next day, the tension was palpable.

“You still haven’t found him?” Miles asked Gumshoe for the umpteenth time.

The detective shook his head.

“It’s like he disappeared! It’s a good thing, right? It means he’s clearly guilty!” he tried to find the bright side.

“Of course he’s guilty. Just like the entirety of the police department, it seems. I look forward to your payday, detective. You shouldn’t, though” Miles threatened Gumshoe’s salary, and the man lowered his head in shame.

Miles had no idea how an entire police force could be this incompetent, and if he wasn’t on duty, and hadn’t been for the entire night, at the moment he would have probably been masked and on the search of the culprit himself, in his vigilante persona.

But he couldn’t, because he had spent the entire night working on the case and looking for even the tiniest proof of Phoenix Wright’s guilt.

And the only evidence was a testimony he only got a memo of… that case was a nightmare!

And Miles’ head was exploding.

The three coffees he had taken hadn’t helped, either. 

“You must be prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, right? What an immensurable pleasure!” a voice interrupted the moment, and Miles turned around and was almost blinded.

The man in front of him was like a disco ball.

“I… will go make sure we find Mr. Wright before the trial” Gumshoe exited quickly from the room. It wasn’t appropriate for him to be present during witnesses preparation.

“Mr. White, I presume” Miles did his best to not show his distaste for the man’s fashion sense, and approached the witness, formal. 

“Redd White, friends call me Blanco Nino. I’m sure we will be great pals, won’t we? Milesy boy?” Mr. White put an arm around Miles’ shoulders, affable and with a bright grin.

Miles felt shivers down his spine at that blatant disregard of all social boundaries.

“Mr. White, before the trial starts, I’d like to revise your testimony, to make sure it is perf…” kindly freeing himself from White’s grasp, Miles tried to keep it professional.

“Oh, my testimony is indeed perfection! No problemo! I don’t think there will be objections!” Mr. White interrupted him, still grinning.

Miles noticed that the expression didn’t show confidence, but almost a satisfaction of some sort. It was less a grin, and more like a smirk.

Miles looked away before noticing something more that could have been counterproductive to his case. 

“I should be the judge of that…” he just said, taking the declaration Mr. White had written, and getting ready to revise it. 

“Oh oh oh, I thought the judge was the one judging, and that you were just a prosecutor” Mr. White joked, taking the documents from Miles’ hand and looking at them. 

“I’m just making sure your story is irreproachable. Mr. Wright is…” Miles insisted on preparing the testimony. 

“Mr. Wright is probably already in México at the moment, trust me. He won’t object” again, on White face there was a smile.

And this time, Miles was sure, it was a smirk.

A satisfied smirk of someone who knew more than he let on.

Of someone guilty.

Miles had seen smirks like that plenty of times, on culprits’ faces. People who where confident they were never going to get unmasked. Calisto Yew… Dahlia Hawthorne… 

“How are you so sure, Mr. White?” he asked, cautiously, lowering his glasses a bit to watch his witness’ expression better. 

A terrible feeling was starting to settle in his stomach.

Miles really wanted to see Wright, now. He had to.

Just to make sure he was okay.

…why did he want to make sure of that?

Why did he feel like… like he wasn’t?

And why was White so sure he wouldn’t be present at his own trial?

Redd White turned his back on Miles, and changed the subject, looking at the papers, but not reading them. 

“You grew up into a fine man, didn’t you? It seemed like yesterday you were on the stand as a witness. Terrible, terrible tragedy, wasn’t it?” he asked, casually. 

Miles tensed.

“I’m not sure I follow. What are you talking about?” he inquired, hoping he was misinterpreting White’s expressions, words and actions. 

“DL-6. Terrible affair, wasn’t it? Losing a father is no bueno, but in those circumstances… it’s even worse. And no closure, either… the statute of limitations is running out, isn’t it?” White turned again towards Miles, and almost blinded him with his jewels and his smile. Not a grin, not a smirk, not a real smile. Just something plain evil. 

Miles did his best to maintain his composure, but his heart was beating fast in his chest, and his head was on the verge of exploding from a mix of pain and fast reasoning. 

He closed his eyes to calm himself and try to make order of his thoughts. 

“This… this is not relevant at the moment. Where are you getting at?” he asked, bluntly. 

He wanted to give Mr. White another chance.

Maybe he was misunderstanding everything. Maybe White was just dumb and insensitive, and that was his attempt at small talk. 

“I think you know, Milesy boy…” White’s low voice, though, didn’t leave much space for doubts. 

Was he trying… to bribe him? 

Information about DL-6 in exchange of his full collaboration?

Miles wasn’t naive. He knew that his witness was a suspicious individual. He did his homework and knew everything there was to know about Mr. Redd White. His affairs, his collaborators, and the rumors about him.

How he traded information, and always seemed to know everything about everyone. 

He also knew about his personal connection to the DL-6 case.  

But accepting his bribe was illegal! 

And shady.

And… tempting.

Closure… it was what Miles needed and wanted more than anything in the world.

But… why the need to bribe the prosecutor if he was telling the truth?

Proving Wright’s crime was already Miles’ priority, anyway. 

So why was White…?

“Prosecutor Edgeworth, the trial is about to begin” a bailiff interrupted the conversation and Miles’ confused thoughts. He turned to the new arrival, ignoring White and not giving him a clear answer. 

“We should wait for the defendant to be…” he started to say, but White interrupted, and got closer to the door, ready to move towards the court room. 

“We should go, Milesy boy… he’s not coming, I’m sure of it” he prompted Miles to follow him.

Miles stayed where he was, while the bailiff preceded both of them outside.

“How are you so certain of that, Mr. White?” He asked, his heart still beating fast, his certainties put to the test. 

“Do you need to know? I’m sure you did worst to maintain your record” White winked playfully at him, like they were on the same team. 

Miles paled at the implication hidden in those words. 

…what?

Was he… confessing… to… to… 

No… he might have bribed Wright, too. Like he was doing to Miles, right?

Yes, he probably helped him escape to make sure the trial would go smoothly for his affairs. 

But Wright was actually guilty, and somewhere… safe… alive.

Miles gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and did everything in his power to believe that theory.

He followed White and entered the court, positioning himself behind the prosecution bench. Maya Fey was at the defendant seat, despite not being accused anymore.

She was looking around pretty confused and extremely worried.

The judge was already there, waiting for Miles.

And so was a public defender, to defend the indefensible Phoenix Wright, who hadn’t yet been caught. 

Who was probably never going to get caught. 

“I was informed there was a change of defendant” the judge turned to Miles, to confirm the information.

Miles nodded.

He had to do his job.

Just do his job as best as he could.

And when he would win, he could have obtained information about his father.

Phoenix Wright was guilty, anyway… it wasn’t like he was doing something morally wrong.

He was going to do that either way, bribe or no bribe. 

He wasn’t accepting the bribe, per se. 

“Yes, your honor. New investigation proved that the killer of Miss Mia Fey was none other than the defense attorney of Miss Maya Fey… Mr. Phoenix Wright, the victim’s employee” he explained.

“What?! That’s not possible! Nick is innocent! He would never!” Miss Fey was quick to object, shocked by the news. She wasn’t informed, it seemed. 

The judge silenced her.

“Order in the court. And where is the defense… er… the defendant?” He asked, looking around. 

“Police wasn’t able to locate him after the witness’ accusation… but they are searching for him, and… according to the AS-4 exception, there can be a trial if there are solid reasons to believe the defendant has escaped” Miles explained, professionally, taking away any chance for the defense to get more time to investigate. 

The trial was going to end that day.

…without Phoenix Wright, it seemed.

“I see… you are right. Let’s begin the trial, then, and see your argument. Is the prosecution ready?” The Judge had no other questions, and was ready to begin. 

“Yes, your honor” Miles nodded. 

“Is the defense ready?” 

“Y_yes, your honor” the rookie was way less confident, and was looking at the court record frantically, and quite anxious. 

That lawyer was going down so fast... 

“Well then, let’s…” the Judge raised his gavel, ready to start the trial. 

Miles closed his eyes, preparing himself.

At least it was going to be quick.

“Hold it!” and exclamation resounded in the room, shocking everyone. 

And Miles immediately turned toward the entrance of the courtroom, eyes wide.

“W_Wright…” he whispered, not sure how to feel about the vision in front of his eyes.

Phoenix Wright was there, bags under his eyes, hair unkempt and clothes messy, as if he had run all the way there after waking up too late.

But something, in his demeanor and eyes, was wild.

He was determined, confident, and… furious.

Despite the fact police officers were trying to apprehend him, that wasn’t the face of a man that was captured and conducted there while he was trying to escape his fate. 

That was the face of someone that was going to fight that battle, with every weapon in his arsenal. Someone who wanted to be there.

Someone who had fought to be there.

Miles could only stare at him, not knowing how to feel.

But a quick glance towards Mr. White, who was shocked to the core, like he had just seen a ghost, gave him enough information to realize one important fact.

He was on the wrong side of that battle.

And Miles had no idea how to feel about it.

He just knew that he had to do his job.

He had made his bed.

He was going to lie in it.

At least… he had managed to look at Phoenix one last time.

He might have been a murderer, and he was definitely going to jail as such, but at least he was still alive.

Phoenix was barely alive, to be fair.

He had spent the entire night dead. He had no idea where his previous body had been disposed of, but he had woken up, in a new one, at his house, a couple hours before the trial.

And when he noticed the police all around, searching for him, and the time it was, he had prepared himself as fast as he could, and used all his powers to avoid the police and go to the courtroom in time for his trial. 

He didn’t have time to prepare his defense.

He was tired, still feeling the ghost of the blows on his head.

His energy was messy, it was like he couldn’t completely control his body and his mind, because of the sudden death.

But he was ready.

He had to be.

He was going to defend himself, defeat Edgeworth, and put White behind bars.

He had no idea how, but he was going to. 

He had all the determination in the world! 

“Mr. Wright… do you know what is going on?” asked the judge, surprised, while Phoenix was taken by two guards. Phoenix let them, he had no intention of escaping now that he had made his grand entrance. 

“I can guess. I’m accused of Mia’s murder, right? Don’t worry, I have no intention of escaping. And… I will be defending myself, if that’s possible. Sorry” Phoenix smiled at the defense attorney that was called for him, who looked extremely relieved.

“It’s a bit irregular, but I’ll allow it. Let him go” the judge nodded and gestured to the guards to let Phoenix take his place behind the defense bench.

While he quickly checked the evidence and waited for the judge to assess the records of the impending trial, Maya leaned over him, and whispered.

“What is your plan?” she asked, hopeful. 

“I don’t have one” admitted Phoenix, with a tense smile. 

“What?!” She whispered-screamed, worried.

“Give me a break, I was dead until like two hours ago” he defended himself, explaining his disappearance. 

“Not the best timing for one of your accidents” commented Maya, to herself. 

“Not an accident” Phoenix revealed, glaring at Mr. White, who was looking at him and had a terrified expression. 

Maya followed his gaze, confused. 

“Wait… you don’t mean…?” she paled, and turned back to her friend, shocked.

“Good thing is that he definitely didn’t expect me to be here, so he may be more careless because of his shock. Bad thing… he now knows about me, and that’s not good” Phoenix reflected of his advantages and disadvantages in the upcoming trial. 

White was clearly too shocked to control himself and his words, but he could have used his knowledge of Phoenix’s powers to accuse him more. Also, Phoenix couldn’t underestimate Prosecutor Edgeworth, he was a worthy (pun intended) opponent. 

“A big thing to blackmail you over” Maya was worried, but Phoenix did his best to smile at her and appear encouraging. 

“When we will destroy his credibility and put him behind bars, he won’t blackmail anyone anymore” he promised, with a confident wink.  

“I like your determination” Maya seemed reassured. 

Their conversation was interrupted by the judge. 

“So… with no further ado… we can commence this trial. Prosecutor Edgeworth, your opening speech?” he regained the order in the courtroom and turned to prosecutor Edgeworth, who looked completely calm despite the unexpected turn of events. 

“Yes, your honor. Further investigations have revealed a new witness who cl_ who has seen the act, and thin_ is conv_” Edgeworth stopped, took a breath, a continued like it was nothing “We concluded that the culprit in this particular case is Phoenix Wright, employee of the victim. And the prosecution has all the evidence to sustain its claim. So I’ll call Mr. White to the stand” 

Despite the confidence in Edgeworth’s tone, Phoenix noticed that his words expressed some kind of uncertainty. He had stumbled while formulating his accusation, making sure to not use terms like “claims”, “thinks” or “is convinced” that would have cast doubts on White’s testimony.

Edgeworth was unconvinced of his own case.

Of course… if he was half as competent as everyone said he was, he probably knew that there was no way that Phoenix was the culprit.

It just didn’t make any sense.

“I’ll allow the testimony, but, what about Miss May’s testimony that indicated Miss Fey?” Asked the Judge, remembering the witness of the day before.

“She has admitted she had lied to protect someone, but she didn’t say who, and was arrested for contempt of court this morning. We have reasons to believe that she was an accomplice to Mr. Wright” Edgeworth explained, deadpan. 

“Tsk, as if…” Phoenix couldn’t help himself but scoff.

“Order in court, Phoenix Wright” the Judge reprimanded him.

“I apologize, Judge” he was quick to lower his head, embarrassed.

In his defense, he was still recovering from his death, he wasn’t in his best condition.

And the claim that he and Miss May were accomplices was so absurd he couldn’t help but laugh.

There was no evidence to sustain it!

Not that it mattered, since it wasn’t the main topic, at the moment.

“Nick, focus!” Maya glared at him, and Phoenix took a deep breath, and focused as best as he could.

He had to take advantage of the fact Edgeworth and White were distracted, he couldn’t be distracted himself.

He had a trial to win.

A criminal to put behind bars.

For Mia!

And for himself!

“Let’s call Mr. White to the stand, then” the judge encouraged the witness to offer his testimony, and White did his best to smile and look confident, despite keeping his eyes locked on Phoenix, as if he was searching for answers about his impossible survival.

Oh, yes, Mr. White, be confused.

Your confusion will just fuel Phoenix’s fire.

I won’t go into details of White’s testimony and every single contradiction, but Phoenix was really on fire… metaphorically speaking. 

He pressed, he objected, he used every weapon in his arsenal, and every time he found a crack, it seemed like he got a bit more energetic, as if he was taking White’s energy from him and using it himself. 

“The victim went to the left”

“Objection! Evidence suggest she went to the right”

“I… I mean… she was struck twice, the first time she went to the left and then to the right”

“Objection! She was struck only once”

“I… well… what I meant to say… she dodged the first attack going left, and then she went right. I saw everything after I heard that thing fall”

“Hold it! What thing?”

“The glass lamp that fell”

“Objection… how did you know that object was a lamp? It was impossible to recognize after it was broken”

“Uh… er… well…” 

“The only way of knowing that object was a lamp it’s if the witness has seen if before the murder. And the only way he could have done that was if he himself is the killer. He didn’t hear the lamp falling and breaking, he saw it! From inside the office!”

“ARGH! I… I don’t…”

“Admit it, Mr. White! Admit you killed Mia Fey!” 

White was crumbling faster than Phoenix expected, but Edgeworth was avoiding every assumption of his guilt.

Every time Phoenix tried to suggest that he was the real killer, Edgeworth was always there with an objection for lack of foundation or speculation.

He wasn’t wrong, but he was so annoying!

And when Phoenix was finally cornering him, when White was on the verge of collapsing, Edgeworth passed the line between annoying and a pain in the arse.

“Objection! Intimidation of the witness” he said, deadpan as always.

“I’m not! I’m accusing him with evidence!” insisted Phoenix. 

“Evidence? Where? It’s mere speculation, and there is a good reason the witness did see the lamp. Isn’t that right, Mr. White?” Edgeworth asked the witness, pushing his glasses on his face. 

“Uh… er… yes… I… I…” White was completely lost, but looked at the prosecutor like he was a life line. 

“You went to the office before, didn’t you? You went there before the murder for work-related business” Edgeworth suggested, calmly. 

Oh… no… that little… 

“O_Objection” Phoenix tried to object, not knowing what to call the dirty trick Edgeworth was using with juridical terms. 

“Why are you objecting, Mr. Wright?” asked the judge, confused. 

“Uh… he’s feeding the witness!” Phoenix explained, less professionally that he wanted to be. But it was so obvious! 

“I don’t see food” the judge looked around, more confused. 

“I mean… he’s telling him what to say!” Phoenix explained better, gritting his teeth in annoyance but hoping the judge would realize the awful thing the prosecutor was doing. He wasn’t even subtle about it. 

“I’m merely revising his words to me before the trial. Will you confirm them, Mr. White?” Edgeworth defended himself, calmly, looking at a piece of paper that was probably empty, because he was clearly improvising! 

“Oh, yes! Right! I did! I went to Miss Fey’s office two weeks ago and I saw that scrumptious glass lamp. I have a great fashion sense and it stuck to me. That’s why I remember” White followed the lead and used it to create another lie to save himself. 

“Objection! You don’t have any fashion sense!” Phoenix accused him, pointing at his clothes.

“Hold it! Having a terrible fashion sense isn’t a crime” Edgeworth objected, shaking his head. 

White looked quite offended at both of them. 

“I have an amazing fashion sense…” he complained, straightening his horrible jacket. 

Phoenix ignored him. All his attention was on Edgeworth. 

“Killing a woman is a crime! Why are you aiding a murderer?!” he accused him, not containing his contempt. 

One thing was to object with “lack of foundation” or “speculation”. Annoying but mostly fair, that was his job. But consciously aiding the witness to help him hide his crime by feeding him a false narrative… that was plain evil. 

Edgeworth gritted his teeth, and pushed his glasses more firmly on his eyes. He’d been doing that constantly during that trial. 

“The witness has given a new testimony. Shouldn’t you cross-examine him? Or you don’t need to and we continue with the trial?” He encouraged him to do his job and stop complaining.

Phoenix growled slightly, but then just shook his head, and decided not to think too much about Edgeworth’s dirty trick.

He wasn’t very surprised, after all. He knew that man was a demon. 

He just… a part of him had hoped he was at least a little bit human, still. Human enough to not defend an obvious murderer.

He definitely wasn’t getting any help from him.

“Yes, your honor… so, Mr. White… why did you visit Fey & Co.?” he started his cross-examination, asking questions to disclaim his assertions. 

“Sorry, can’t say. Work related business with Miss Fey” White avoided the question. He was suddenly more smug than before. 

“I didn’t see you there, and I work there, Mr. White” he provoked him. 

“Objection, lacks reliability” was the quick objection from Edgeworth.

Phoenix wanted to strangle him. 

“Hold it, his testimony lacks reliability too! He has no proof he was there” he complained, annoyed. 

“You could ask my secretary, I’m sure that she will bring my agenda with all my previous appointments” White proposed, with a smirk. 

Of course he was going to forge that in record time.

Dang it!

“Er… well… uhm… can you… describe the… office?” Phoenix asked, knowing too well that line of questioning was not going to help him, but in dire need of time to think of any way he could prove Mr. White was there the night of the murder.

One objection… one single objection from Edgeworth, and the tables had turned completely.

White, that was on the verge of collapsing and confess, now had a confident smirk.

“Nick… are you okay?” Asked Maya, in a whisper, while White started to describe the office.

Phoenix was barely listening to him, and looked frantically at the court record.

Evidence, he needed evidence.

“I… I don’t know… I don’t know, Maya. I’m lost” he admitted, his heart racing.

Was he going to lose?

After everything he did?

After everything WHITE did?! To Mia, to him, to many others?!

Was he really that powerful? So powerful that law bended under his commands?

Maya didn’t answer, and closed her eyes, her hands in prayer.

Yes, that was the time to pray, maybe Phoenix should have done that, too.

“Are you satisfied, lawyer boy?” Asked White, after replying.

Oh no, that was too fast. 

“I… wait… do you… why were you at the hotel, in the first place?” Phoenix tried to fish for any kind of information he could obtain. But he was mostly buying time. 

“Objection, your honor. Lacks relevance” as always, Edgeworth was quick to stop him. 

“It’s okay. I was there for work. It wasn’t related to the murder in the slightest” White was looking at his jewels, relaxed. 

“What type of work?” Phoenix pressed. 

“Objection, lacks relevance” Edgeworth seemed almost tired of repeating his objections. 

“Sustained… if you are done with wasting the court time, I think we can dismiss the witness” the judge shook his head. Even he had noticed Phoenix’s attempts at wasting time. 

“W_Wait…” Phoenix had no idea how to object anymore. 

Was it really over?

“Hold it!” A new voice stopped the judge from banging his gavel.

A familiar voice.

An unexpected voice.

Phoenix turned to Maya, and was shocked to the core when he realized that wasn’t Maya, but Mia.

Wearing her sister’s clothes, who were a bit tight on her, she had a determined look on her eyes. She looked at Phoenix, and smiled gently.

“Objection! Her testimony can’t be accepted in court due to the… the rule that…” Edgeworth was the first who seemed to understand what was happening, and didn’t lose any time throwing his objection to stop Mia from testifying.

She glared at him, annoyed.

“Shut it, Edgeworth. I know everything about the DL-6 rule. I’m not here to accuse Mr. White of my murder… even though… he did kill me…” the last part, she said pretty low, but Phoenix managed to catch that, and probably half the courtroom.

Phoenix also caught Edgeworth’s little flinch when Mia had talked about DL-6, but ignored it, too focused on the fact that his best friend was there, in front of him, possessing Maya’s body.

“C_chief…” he whispered, tears in his eyes. He was so busy trying to solve the case and help Maya and himself that he hadn’t had the time to process her death. And now that she was there in front of him… he was feeling a lump in his chest. He noticed just how much he had missed her. 

“What is going on?” asked the judge, confused. 

“Miss Fey, the defendant… former defendant, the victim’s sister, claims to be a superhuman capable of channeling spirits after death. Something that it’s not provable. It seems like she is acting like the victim” explained Edgeworth, putting particular emphasis on terms like ‘claims’ or ‘acting like’. But his voice was trembling slightly. He was way less confident. 

“The victim? You mean to say that this woman is the victim?” the judge looked positively shocked. 

“It’s not admissible in court due to the… DL-6 exception rule” Edgeworth insisted on his point. 

“Oh, right. Yes, I am aware. Miss Fey, you can’t testify” the judge nodded, taking his side. 

“I’m not here to testify, I’m here to assist my employee in his defense. He has evidence to present to the witness’ testimony” Mia claimed, smiling at Phoenix with confidence. 

“He does?” the judge was surprised. 

“I do?” Phoenix was, too. 

“Yes, Phoenix… you have the evidence to prove White couldn’t have seen the lamp weeks before the murder, not even days before the murder” Mia suggested. 

Phoenix looked at the court record, and scanned the evidence.

He was lost.

“But… where?” 

“Do you still have the receipt?”

“The one with Maya’s name written in blood?” Phoenix took it. Maybe he could say that it was still a piece of evidence without explanation or something like that. But he didn’t want to accuse Maya… and Mia definitely didn’t want that, either. 

“Yes… turn it around” Mia suggested. 

Phoenix did as told, and his eyes lit up, almost literally.

Ohhhhhh!!! There it is! 

“Don’t you remember helping me set it up?” Mia winked at him, playfully, and Phoenix smiled, grateful for her help. He was finally regaining hope for that trial.

That evidence was enough to turn the tables again.

“I do!” He answered the judge, and showed everyone the receipt.

“I present this evidence as incontrovertible proof that Mr. White can’t have seen the glass lamp days before the murder” 

“What? How can a bloody fake message you wrote yourself prove anything?” Asked White, rolling his eyes, despite being quite scared by the combo of Mia and Phoenix together so close to him, their killer.

“Your honor, can you turn it around and read the date of purchase, and the item purchased?” Asked Phoenix, innocently, looking straight at White… and not-so-straight at Edgeworth, too.

Not in the gay sense, but he was very focused on Wright, and slightly less focused on Edgeworth while still managing to notice his expression.

And while White looked confused and slightly frightened, Edgeworth had the expression of someone that had understood everything and had no idea how to object anymore.

AH! IN YOUR BUTT, EDGEWORTH!!

“Well, the date is the 4th of September, and the item… oh, the glass lamp” the judge understood where Phoenix was going. 

“Mia brought it the day before the murder, and I personally assisted her in setting it up in the office the day of the murder. There is no way White saw it during his presumed visit weeks ago. Which brings in the question… how did he see the lamp he had described in great detail, if not the day of the murder, during the murder he committed?” He explained his reasoning.

“Uh… well…” White looked at Edgeworth, trying to get help from him.

“Your honor, I ask for an additional day to investigate this matter further and find more evidence” the prosecutor turned to the judge.

Well, at least it wasn’t a stupid objection like “speculation” or something like that.

But… he couldn’t postpone the trial by another day! White was definitely going to plant more fake evidence, try to kill him again to silence him, or escape the country to avoid being arrested.

Phoenix couldn’t allow that!

“Wait, your honor! We can’t postpone the trial! We are on the right track!” he objected, determined. 

“We simply don’t have enough evidence to accuse anybody, at the moment. Or do you have inconfutabile proof of Mr. White’s involvement in this case?” Edgeworth counter-objected. 

“I… I don’t, but… if I could interrogate him more I…” 

“Furthermore, you are the defendant in this trial, not Mr. White” 

“And do you have inconfutabile proof of my guilt?” Phoenix provoked him.

Edgeworth hesitated, but just for a couple of seconds. 

“I’m asking another day, am I not?” he replied, with a little smirk.

“You have a way of playing with words, don’t you, prosecutor Edgeworth?” Phoenix really really wanted to punch him in that stupid handsome smirky face! 

“Order, order in the court! Prosecutor Edgeworth is right, there is not enough evidence to proceed with an arrest, so I hereby declare the trial…” the judge looked on the verge of offering his verdict, but the last objection came from a very unexpected source. 

“Wait… I… I confess… I’m the one who killed miss Fey!” The witness’ declaration came completely out of nowhere, and shocked all the people in the courtroom.

“What did you say, Mr. White?” The judge had a startled expression. 

Phoenix looked at Mia, who had taken advantage of Phoenix’s discussion with Edgeworth to approach White, had given him a list that he was clenching between his fingers, and was whispering something in his ear.

“Don’t… don’t publish that… I confess… I confess to the murder!” White repeated again.

Phoenix realized what she was doing.

Her private investigation.

The names she had collected.

She was using her knowledge, something he couldn’t ever erase, not even by killing her, to blackmail the blackmailer into confessing his crimes.

Which was a very appropriate punishment for the wicked man. A taste of his own medicine.

But, legally speaking, Phoenix knew there was going to be an objection.

There was no way Edgeworth would pass up the opportunity to yell “Objection, intimidation of the witness” to stop whatever Mia was doing, and erase his confession from the record.

Phoenix looked at the prosecutor, worried, but also already resigned, and, as expected, Edgeworth looked on the verge of objecting, finger raised, mouth open.

Then their eyes met. For only a second, nothing more.

But it was enough.

For some inexplicable reason, Edgeworth lowered his hand, and crossed his arms. His mouth close, his eyes dropped, and he didn’t say anything.

“Wait… what? So you are confessing to the crime? That is unprecedented! Prosecutor Edgeworth, do you have something to say?” The judge asked.

Come on, judge! Don’t give him chances of destroying the confession!

Edgeworth, however, didn’t object further.

“The prosecution has no comments, your honor” he simply said, composed and indifferent, like that whole mess wasn’t in part his fault.

“Well… bailiffs, take this man into custody” the judge ordered, and police officers entered and arrested Mr. White, who still clenched at the paper, and didn’t say anything else. His face was whiter than his name.

While he passed next to him, Phoenix couldn’t help but throw a little jab.

“Now THAT is power, Mr. Black” he whispered, pointing at Mia, who had approached him again, and elbowed him gently, rolling her eyes at him.

“You are going to pay for this, Mr. Wright” was the last threat of White, before he was carried outside.

“That was childish, Phoenix” Mia complained, but was smiling, amused.

“He deserved that, you don’t understand what he…” Phoenix started to explain that it was a callback to their last conversation before White had killed him, but Mia interrupted him.

“Oh, I know… I was there, in spirit, at least” she explained, with a sad smile. 

“Really?” Phoenix was surprised, but also moved by the fact that his friend had followed him after her death. 

“I’m sorry you got involved, it was the last thing I wanted” Mia apologized, bowing her head. 

“Chief, I…”

They were interrupted by the judge.

“Well, now that this is resolved, I suppose the trial can end. And I declare the defendants Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey… not guilty!” 

Phoenix felt like a heavy weight was taken from his stomach.

He had won!

Not only he had saved himself, but also Maya. And he had avenged Mia. He turned to her, with a smile. She smiled back, a bit sadder.

And another weight was put on Phoenix’s heart.

She was dead.

“I… I’m so sorry, Mia” he muttered, with little voice.

“I’m sorry, too. I should have been more careful. But I’m really proud of you, Phoenix. You did great at this trial” despite her sadness, she smiled, fondly. 

“I wouldn’t have won if it wasn’t for you” Phoenix admitted, a bit embarrassed. 

“You might have taken a little more time, but you would have managed. Your power is not physical, Phoenix. It’s inside of you. Your mind, your words, and your determination. You saved my sister, you saved yourself, and you finished what I started. I’m so proud of my little student” she put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly. 

“I’m gonna miss you, Mia… I’m gonna miss you so much” Phoenix couldn’t help himself, and hugged her tightly. That was probably the last time he was ever going to do it, and he needed to express just how much she meant to him, and how much he was going to miss her. 

Mia hugged him back, patting him gently. 

“I’ll always be here with you and Maya” she promised. 

Phoenix felt the switch in the hug, but it took him a couple of seconds to let the woman go.

The woman that had become a girl, again.

Maya looked disoriented.

“What happened? Did it help?” She asked, looking around.

“It did! You did great, Maya, we won!” He reassured her, smiling through his emotional tears. 

“Oh, thank the supers! I saw you crying and was so scared for a moment!” Maya heaved a sigh, putting a hand on her chest. 

“Sorry. I was just very emotional! Let’s get out of here” Phoenix suggested, and pointed to the exit of the courtroom.

He really wanted to go back home, shower, and cry in his bed for hours without shame. 

They went out the courtroom and in the lobby.

“So… it’s over, isn’t it, Nick? Over over…” Maya asked, looking around, still quite disoriented and a bit uncertain.

“Yes… over over… it’s over” now that he was out of the courtroom and a free man, Phoenix was feeling numb, but he tried his best to be strong for Maya. 

“So I can… go home?” Maya asked, uncertain.

“Yes, you can… do you want me to accompany you?” Phoenix proposed, noticing her distress.

Going back home meant that she was going to be there for the first time since Mia’s passing.

It wasn’t gonna be easy for her.

Nor for Phoenix.

But he wanted to be there for her, after everything she went through.

“No, thank you. I think… I think I want to stay alone, today. I have a lot on my mind” Maya refused, and Phoenix nodded, understanding her feelings.

“If you need me, you can… wait… you can’t call my phone” Phoenix realized, taking his head in his hands. 

“What?” Maya was confused. 

“I… don’t have a phone anymore. I need to buy one again” Phoenix sighed. The phone he had lost his last death was the last one he owned.

“I hope they are cheap” Maya giggled a bit, despite her low mood.

“The cheapest I can find. Anyway, you can call me at home, or at the office” he proposed, still wanting to be there for her as much as possible. 

“Can you meet me home tomorrow morning?” Maya asked, a bit bashful. 

“Yes, of course. I’ll bring donuts” Phoenix promised. 

“Nice… I look forward to it. Thank you again, Nick. Really, you were amazing!” Maya hugged him and Phoenix quickly returned the embrace.   

“Thank you, Maya, you were a lifesaver”

She broke the hug, smiled at him one last time, and went out of the tribunal. 

Phoenix stayed back for the documentation, and while he was signing some papers, he noticed a familiar magenta suit passing by him.

Prosecutor Edgeworth was talking with detective Gumshoe, and looked pretty pissed.

Gumshoe was bashful and sad about whatever critic he was receiving from the prosecutor, and maybe it was the desolation on the detective eyes, or just the pent-up anger he was feeling, that made Phoenix turn around, and address the man.

“You knew from the beginning he was the one behind all this” he accused, arms crossed, glaring at Edgeworth. 

“What are you saying, pal?!” Gumshoe was quick to jump on the prosecutor’s defense, but the man raised his hand to silence him. 

“I didn’t know anything. I was only doing my job” Edgeworth defended himself, practical, his expression a mask of indifference. 

“So was April May… but she’s still an accomplice of a murderer. You didn’t need to feed him lies to complicate matters” Phoenix insisted, not ready to drop the subject and wanting to expose his dirty trick. 

“You are right, I didn’t need to. Your case was not strong enough either way. You only got lucky” Edgeworth didn’t seem fazed by the accusation, and crossed his arms, looking at Phoenix with a judgmental look of superiority. 

“At least I didn’t use dirty tricks to win” Phoenix replied, though gritted teeth. 

“Didn’t you, now?” Edgeworth provoked him, sharply. For a moment, Phoenix was speechless. He wasn’t completely wrong, after all. He did use a dirty trick to get White to confess. Well… Mia did, but regardless. It was for the best, anyway.

And he wasn’t letting Edgeworth have the last word. 

“I never lied” he insisted. He was always honest, and Edgeworth wasn’t. He had invented an excuse on the fly to protect the witness and secure his victory.

He was a terrible person! 

“I… think whatever you want to think, Mr. Wright” Edgeworth gave up on defending himself and passed Phoenix on the hall, closing the conversation. 

“I hope I will never see you again in court!” Phoenix turned back to his documents, shaking his head. 

Edgeworth didn’t reply. 

Phoenix did have the last word, after all.

It wasn’t bringing him any comfort.

That trial had been hell.

And he couldn’t help but think that, despite how unpleasant and sneaky the prosecutor was, he wouldn’t have won the case if it wasn’t for him, too.

Edgeworth had every right to object to the intimidation of the witness, but he didn’t.

Why?

Was he human, under all that ambition, after all?

Phoenix didn’t have the energy to think about it too much. And he wasn’t sure he wanted to, either. 

After all… hating him was simpler. 

After finishing the paperwork, Phoenix went back home, showered, dressed more casually, and after a quick lunch, he went to his favorite park, to walk a bit and clear up his thoughts.

He’d noticed that it helped a lot after one of his accidents. Fresh air and wild nature was comforting and energizing.

Phoenix had ulterior motives, though.

He was hoping he might meet Red again.

Not the evil Redd White of Bluecorp, but his Red, Red Signal, the man that gave him the strength to fight for Maya with all his might. The man responsible for his career choice in the first place, and that had always accompanied his thoughts.

Oh, if only Phoenix knew he had accused that man of many really bad things just hours before.

But he was completely oblivious, therefore hopeful, and after a long walk in the park, he sat down on the bench he used to meet with Red when they were little.

It was his comfort bench, with or without Red, and he closed his eyes, breathing deeply, and losing himself in the sounds of nature.

Relaxing, in theory.

But his mind was haunted with too many intrusive thoughts.

And the weight of everything that had happened the last few days became more heavy than he expected it to be.

For the first time in his life, he had died by someone else’s hand.

Generally speaking, each of his deaths was caused by a specific person, but the death mark on his shoulder mostly caused accidents. That was his first direct murder.

It had been terrifying.

And above all, his friend, colleague, mentor and savior was dead.

What kind of aspiring hero was he if he couldn’t even save the people closest to him?!

Before he even realized what was happening, he found himself sobbing, face on his hands, crushed by his loss and recent trauma.

And before he could realize the fact completely, he got offered a handkerchief. 

He took it absentmindedly.

“Thank you” he said, between sobs.

“It’s okay” replied an unknown and at the same time familiar voice, a bit distorted.

After drying his tears, and blowing his nose, Phoenix finally realized what had just happened.

And turned to his side, eyes wide when he noticed who was sitting beside him, playing with the hem of his cape.

“R_Red?” He asked, in a whisper.

He had hoped he would see him again, but didn’t really expected to.

He was a busy vigilante, that mostly got out at night.

It was still late afternoon.

“Good evening, Phoenix Wright” Red greeted him, formally, with a curt nod of his head.

For the first time, that day, Phoenix was happy he had died so recently, because if he hadn't he was pretty sure he would have died right at that moment from embarrassment.

“How… how long were you there?” He asked, in a slightly high-pitched tone, trying to neatly fold the stained handkerchief.

“I just arrived. I noticed you were in distress, and thought I might offer some assistance. I don’t want to impose, though” came the formal but kind response of the superhuman.

He’d always been formal, even when he was a kid. It wasn’t surprising he’d be formal as an adult, too.

But he wasn’t just formal, he looked… stiff, nervous.

Not as much as Phoenix, that’s for sure.

“T_Thanks, I… I needed it. The handkerchief, I mean… I… I lost someone important, recently” he admitted, sighing. 

“I’m really sorry to hear that” Red offered comfort.

“I’d rather not talk about it… what about you? It’s been a while. What are you up to?” Phoenix tried to push the subject of Mia in the back of his mind, and find a distraction.

Red was there, right there in front of him, that was the occasion of a lifetime.

“Nothing much… just my best, when I can… how’s your head after the accident?” Asked Red, not offering many details. 

“Uh? What are you talking about?” Phoenix paled, and put a hand on his head, remembering the way he had died just the day before, because of Redd White.

How did that Red know about it?

“The… car accident… I helped you with two days ago” explained Red, confused by the sudden fear in Phoenix’s eyes.

“Oh… yes… er… I’m fine. It’s fine” Phoenix breathed a sigh of relief, and tried to sound more relaxed. 

Red wasn’t convinced. 

“Did you bump your head again in the meantime?” He asked, looking intently at the hand still on Phoenix’s head. Probably. It wasn’t very clear what he was looking at, with the mask and everything. 

“Not really, more like someone attacked me with a blunt object, but… never mind, I’m fine, as you can see. That person is behind bars, now” Phoenix explained bitterly, thinking about Redd White. 

Red was stunned. It took a couple of seconds for him to reply, and he sounded even more stiff and nervous than before, despite trying to sound calm. 

“I… I see you had an eventful couple of days”

Phoenix shook his head. He didn’t want to think bad thoughts.

He tried to turn back to the important matter at hand.

Red Signal. 

“Yes, I did. And yet the most memorable moment was meeting you again” he smiled towards the vigilante.

And it sounded like a flirt.

“Uh?” Red was taken aback. Phoenix couldn’t see his expression. 

Wait, he didn’t want it to sound like a flirt. He didn’t want to scare him off!

“I just… I’ve been wanting to meet you again for years, and… I’m so happy I managed to find you. I suppose you found me, but… the point is… I missed you, Red Signal” Phoenix tried to be more clear, and he only managed to be even more inadvertently flirty and desperate.

Maybe that wasn’t the best day to go out and meet his hero again. Not right after dying and defending himself in court. 

“Oh… I… I see…” Red was torturing the hem of his cape.

He was very nervous.

Oh no! Phoenix had actually scared him!

He had to make it right. 

“Look, what I mean is…” but before he could dig his grave further with another equivocal comment, Red talked. 

“I’ve missed you, too, Phoenix Wright” he admitted, with the same nervousness of Phoenix, like confessing that fact was very difficult for him.

Phoenix looked at him, surprised, heart filling with hope.

Then they both talked at the same time. 

“Can we see each other again, sometime?” 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to see each other again, though” 

They looked at each other, in silence for a couple of seconds. 

“What?” Asked Phoenix, surprised and hurt by the sudden dismissal.

“I… I mean… It’s been years, and a vigilante is not exactly… approachable. I shouldn’t see civilians while in disguise” Red tried to justify his words. 

Phoenix wanted to suggest seeing each other out of disguise, but he was already scaring Red off too much without asking to reveal his identity, too. He knew how protective he was of his privacy.

“If you are worried I might talk about you or put you in danger, you don’t have to. You can trust me, Red. This is a pretty isolated place. We could see each other here, at times… talk a bit… like when we were kids” Phoenix tried to sell his idea and not sound too desperate. But after waiting for him for so many years, he couldn’t let him go so soon. 

“We are not kids anymore. Why would you want to spend time with me?” Red shook his head, and sighed. 

“Do I need a reason? I just think you are great” Phoenix smiled at him, encouragingly. 

“I might not be… I don’t want to disappoint you, Wright” Red turned to him, his voice uncertain.

Disappoint him?

Why would Red ever disappoint him? 

The thought was absurd. 

The only way he could have disappointed him was if Red Signal turned out to be Redd White.

Or maybe Miles Edgeworth.

But what were the odds?! 

Redd White couldn’t possibly be, there was no way.

And Edgeworth… possible, but improbable.

Seriously, what were the odds?! 

“What are you talking about? You save people! You saved me, twice, and after all these years, you are still a superhero in the making. You know… I became a defense attorney specialized in superhumans mainly because of you!” he admitted, a bit shyly and with cheeks redder than Red himself.

He was exposing himself a lot, but he needed to express just how much Red Signal meant to him, especially if Red didn’t want to see him anymore.

Red remained silent for a couple of seconds, looking straight at Phoenix. His mask rendered impossible for the man to see his expression, but he hoped he wasn’t cringing too much. 

“You shouldn’t have made a decision of this caliber only because of me” came his reply, neutral and a little stiff, avoiding his gaze. 

Phoenix turned his head on the side, as well, even more embarrassed. 

“Yes, well, what I meant is that you inspired me when we were kids, and I decided to follow this career path. I love my job! I’m… fairly new on the field, but I won both of my cases, already. I can’t talk too much about it, though” he defended his choice and made it look like he didn’t do it only because of Red. He hadn’t, after all… it was just mostly because of him. Not entirely. 

“The person you lost was involved, I suppose” Red guessed. 

“Yes, sharp as ever with your deductions. You should be a detective, you would be more competent than Gumshoe” Phoenix sighed, thinking about the case. The detective sounded like a cool guy, but not the best at his job. It worked for Phoenix, in a way, but still… could have been better. 

“He’s not THAT bad” Red objected, sounding a bit offended. 

For one single second, the idea that Red Signal could be detective Gumshoe grazed Phoenix’s mind, and his head jumped on his chest at the possibility. 

Not because he wanted him to be, but because that’d be too mortifying, having just insulted him in his face.

But it lasted one single second.

There was no way on earth the man in front of him was Detective Gumshoe. His body type was completely different, his voice and cadence totally off, and… frankly… there was no way Gumshoe was as smart as Red.

“Wait, you know him?” he asked then, thinking about who could be so well acquainted with a detective like him. 

“I have knowledge of many names in the field” admitted Red, vague. 

“Do you know Miles Edgeworth?” Phoenix found himself asking, not thinking too much about it. 

Red Signal was unaffected, but took a couple seconds to answer. 

“Why do you ask?” he inquired. 

“No particular reason… I went against him in court, today… I shouldn’t talk about it, sorry” Phoenix shook his head and dropped the subject.

Dang it! He didn’t want to think about it.

Edgeworth was so annoying! 

“And you won? That’s impressive. That man is a monster, I heard” Red didn’t let the subject drop, and commented with a neutral tone, albeit a bit bitter.

Ohhh, he didn’t like Edgeworth!

Good for Phoenix! 

“He is! And I got lucky, I admit it. It helped that I was innocent, not that it mattered to Mr. Updated autopsy report! With his smug, annoying, handsome face” he started to insult Edgeworth without thinking.

Wait… did he just call him handsome in front of Red?!

“Look, I’m glad we saw each other again, and I’m… honored you think so highly of me, but… I’ve been here too much, and I should probably go and make sure the city is safe, you know… things like that” that was Red’s turn to try to change the subject… and get the heck out of there.

Phoenix sighed, disappointed but not exactly surprised. He couldn’t blame him. He wasn’t acting his best, to be honest. 

He knew that he probably cared for Red way more than Red cared for him.

It was still nice to have seen him again, after all those years, even if it was going to be for the last time. 

“I understand. Here, take it back. I would have cleaned it and give it to you next time, but… I don’t want to force you to see me again” he offered the handkerchief as a sign of good will.

Red looked at it, but didn’t take it from Phoenix’s hands.

After an attentive consideration, he let it go.

“Keep it for now. You can give it back next time” he stood from the bench and readjusted his cape, ready to go. 

Phoenix lightened up.

“Next time?” he asked, hopeful. 

“Who knows… there could be a next time…” Red turned to him and gave him a nod. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but Phoenix could bet there was a hint of a smile under that mask. 

“Thank you, Red… for everything” he smiled as well, feeling a little better despite his circumstances. 

“Don’t put yourself in trouble” was the last thing Red said. 

“Ahah, I’ll do my best!” 

With that, Red disappeared.

It wasn’t exactly promising, but there was still hope.

Phoenix clenched the handkerchief, and giggled a bit at the thought of having something of his favorite hero in his hands.

He was going to see him again, he was sure of that.

That was just a new beginning.