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Miles had woken up just a few moments prior, and was currently working together with Kay Faraday to find a way to escape the room they were trapped in.
Miles found his cell phone, and quickly called Detective Gumshoe.
“Mr. Edgeworth, sir! Are you OK? I was so worried, sir!” came the enthusiastic voice of the detective.
“I’m fine. I was knocked unconscious for a spell by the kidnapper, that’s all.” Miles was well aware that this situation was not what most people would call ‘fine,’ but it was far from the worst he had been in.
“I’m sorry sir! I’m such a failure! If only I hadn’t lost sight of you...!” The detective said self deprecatingly.
“Detective, we don’t have time for this. Have the police set up a perimeter?”
“You don’t have to worry about that, sir! I already got the boys working on that! But in doing that...I sorta...Ahhh!”
“What’s wrong, detective?” Miles stared to become worried.
“Sorry to have to butt in, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to make due with me,” came an unidentified voice over the phone.
Miles froze. Oh, this was just what he needed right now. Of course he would first talk to his soulmate over the phone while he was trapped in a room with no evident way out. Why would he have expected anything else?
“Who is this?” he asked finally.
He heard a groan from the other side.
“...God, not again,” came the voice. “If those were your first words too, you could have picked a much better time.”
“It’s not as if this would have been my first choice either,” Miles replied, “but yes, they are.”
“Heh...of course my soulmate is some prosecutor,” the voice said disdainfully. “Couldn’t you at least have picked something more original to say?”
“Well forgive me, but I wasn’t exactly expecting to first talk to you on the phone today after being kidnapped. And you still haven’t answered my question. Who are you?”
“Shi-Long Lang of Interpol. A pleasure to speak with you Mr. Edgeworth. I’ve heard a great deal about you.”
“So why exactly is an Interpol agent like yourself involved in a domestic kidnapping case?”
“Right back to business I see. Don’t sweat the details. A crime’s a crime whether it’s on a local or global scale. Besides, you’re the one who’s in a world of trouble!” Lang replied forcefully.
“A-and why would you say that?” Miles asked defensively.
“Lang Zi says: ‘The pack that runs together, stays together.’ You catch my drift? You caused quite a ruckus by running blindly into a situation and then getting caught.”
“Tsk...!” Miles...couldn’t actually argue with that. He didn’t know who the hell Lang zi was or what they had to do with anything, but then Lang continued talking.
“You should have contacted the police from the very beginning.”
“I’m sorry that this happened because of a lapse in judgement. However, I humbly request that you please help me out of here posthaste.”
“...Sorry, no can do.”
“What?!”
“We’re hunting the kidnapper now, and I haven’t got any hands to spare. As I said, my pack moves as one. You’re the one who wanted to go it alone, so good luck...Mr. Prosecutor. Oh, and once we do catch the kidnapper, rest assured we’ll come and find you...eventually.”
“You...you...” and the battery to Miles’ phone died. This was just great. Not only did they still have to figure out how to get out of this damn room, and without any help from outside, Miles now also had to figure out what to do about his soulmate.
“What’s wrong? Did you get cut off!?” Kay asked.
“No...my phone ran out of power,” Miles replied frustratedly.
“No way!” Kay exclaimed.
“It doesn’t matter anyway. We should try to get out of here through our own means.”
“Yeah! I have a name to live up to, after all!” Kay said excitedly. “Also, because I was totally eavesdropping, you have to tell me what you’re going to do about your soulmate!”
“...Is ‘nothing’ going to be an acceptable answer to you by any chance,” Miles tried hopefully, not wanting to explain further at the moment.
“What do you mean ‘nothing’?” Kay asked in response. Miles took that as a no.
“Kay, I’m married,” Miles replied, holding up his hand and showing her his wedding ring. “I have a husband and a daughter who I care for very much. I’m not just going to go running off with some man I’ve never met just because of some words written on my arm.”
“You’re married!?!?” Kay shrieked in surprise. “With a daughter!? Oh my god! Who are they? When did you meet? How did you meet?” Kay kept asking questions in rapid succession without giving Miles time to respond.
Miles resigned himself to explaining how this had come to be while they continued their escape effort.
Miles met Agent Lang in person shortly after he and Kay escaped from the room.
“Look, I’m not gonna let you just waltz onto my scene and investigate just because you’re supposed to be my soulmate. In fact, I don’t want some filthy prosecutor for a soulmate anyway. Now get lost, I don’t want you tampering with the evidence,” Lang snarled.
Miles was conflicted about how to feel at that. On one hand, he was insulted obviously. On the other though, it made it a lot easier to continue on as if he had not just met his soulmate.
“Well, that makes the soulmate part of this significantly easier,” Miles said. “I assure you, the feeling is mutual in that respect. Soulmate or not, I’m not interested. Now, about the investigation...”
The next time Miles and Lang crossed paths was at the embassies of Babahl and Allebahst, during the investigations of the fires, the Yatagarasu, and the murder of Manny Coachen. Miles and Kay walked inter the Theatrum Neutralis and Lang’s officers were counting off.
“Yo, were you guys there the whole time?” Lang asked. “I got a call from Shih-na, and she’s already filled me in. It sounds like you’re out to get in my way again.”
“I have absolutely no intention of interrupting your investigation. I simply request that you grant me permission to investigate the Allebahstian Embassy.”
“Hmph. I told you before, I’m not giving you any special treatment. Allebahst has one the strictest immigration systems in the world. If you can get them to allow you in to investigate, I suppose I won’t stop you.”
“Much appreciated.” Miles said with a bow.
“Just stay out of my way, pretty boy.”
“Lang Zi says: Ferocious love blooms with each new spring.
“Agent Lang, a pleasant surprise to see you here.”
“It’s been a long time since I set foot in a courthouse. But I wasn’t going to miss watching the guy who screwed up my country finally get what’s coming to him. Well, that and something else.” Lang said. “I wanted to see you in action in court.”
“Is that so?” Miles thought that was unexpected.
“We flushed out all of the counterfeit bills, so Zheng Fa is finally at peace again. And it’s all thanks to you, so I just want to say...thanks.”
Well. That was even more unexpected.
“I should be the one thanking you, Agent Lang.” Miles said graciously. “If you hadn’t negated Mr. Alba’s extraterritorial rights, I would not have been able to bring him to trial. I believe the victory belongs to the both of us in this case.”
“.....Tch. A shared victory, huh?” Lang seemed far from thrilled with the idea. “Look, don’t get me wrong, I’ll still never forgive you prosecutors...and I have zero interest in this soulmate thing we’re supposed to have. I’ve always done things my own way, and that’s not about to change, you got that?”
“Hmph, I see...Well I believe you should follow your own creed when you do your job. And regarding the soulmate issue, I told you before that the feeling is mutual.”
That said, they did make a good investigation team despite their differences in ideas. When they could manage to work together, at least.
When Miles ran into Lang again at the prison while investigating Knightley’s death, it seemed like there was a pattern forming.
“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Prosecutor and the little lady. Fancy meeting you here.” Lang greeted. “You know, if I didn’t know any better, it would seem strange that we keep running into each other on cases.” he added with a slight smirk.
“Well, it’s a good thing you do know better. Our work does often involve similar things, after all.” Miles deadpanned back.
“Still, it’s an interesting coincidence. One might even call it fate, huh?” Lang laughed.
“Well, I would not be one of them. What brings you here?” Miles asked, straight to the point.
“And you’re alone today too! Where are all your officers?” Kay interjected.
“Just some boring work. Nothing you need to know about.” Lang replied. Well that wasn’t suspicious at all.
They talked briefly about the past few days, and the incident with the president of Zheng Fa. Although now that Miles thought about it, it was strange that Lang wasn’t involved in that case, and he told Lang as much. Apparently the Zheng Fa President was not too trusting of his own country’s police force.
And then Lang left as suddenly as he had arrived, leaving Miles to continue with the case at hand.
Well, one thing Miles could say was that seeing Lang was never boring.
The next time they meet is at a movie set for when Miles finds Lang standing over the dead body of the president of Zheng Fa.
“Agent Lang!” Miles said, shocked.
“....Mr. Prosecutor. Didn’t take you long to get here.” Lang replied after a pause. He seemed very shaken.
“What happened?” Lang couldn’t have...could he?
“What... happened?” Lang repeated. “Ha! That’s what I’d like to know!”
Miles suspected it was not a monster as Lotta claimed, but they would have to investigate to determine much more than that.
After the assassination of the president had been solved, Miles and Lang talked before they parted ways.
“I could never have imagined the truth that my old man was hiding. Unlike me, who only thought about the Lang clan, my old man was trying to protect an entire nation...and I swear that I will carry on his will.” Lang said with determination. “Together with my men, I will revive Zheng Fa. And once I can show you a Zheng Fa that’s brimming with life...maybe then we can see where this soulmate thing might go.”
Well. It looked like Miles would have to explain after all.
“...I’m afraid not, Agent Lang.” Miles said. “I have the utmost confidence in your ability to bring the life back to Zheng Fa. But...” Miles held up his wedding ring for Lang to see. “This ‘soulmate thing’ isn’t going to go anywhere.”
“...I see.”
“You’re a good man, Agent Lang. I truly am glad that we met and had the chance to work together. Please believe me when I say that.”
“Heh...I understand.” Lang said. “Who are they?”
Miles pulled out a picture from his wallet.
“This is my husband, Phoenix, and my daughter, Trucy.” Miles said with a soft smile.
“You look very happy together,” Lang said. “I’d love to meet them someday.”
“Of course,” Miles replied. “We’ll come visit you in Zheng Fa.”
Lang nodded.
“See you then, Mr. Prosecutor. Take care of yourself.”
“I’ll see you, Agent Lang.”
Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.