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“You foolish, foolish fool.”
Phoenix Wright wearily blinks his eyes open, only to see Franziska von Karma staring down at him, an annoyed expression on her face. He looks around the room he finds himself in, surprised that he appears to be in a hospital. Phoenix turns his attention to the side table and grabs the cup of water perched on it, clearing his throat after drinking it.
“That was rather stupid—even for you, Mr. Phoenix Wright.”
“What, getting shot?” Phoenix can’t help but snap. It’s not like he chose to get injured—it just happened. Besides, he has an alarmingly bad track record with these kinds of things. He gets injured nearly every case these days.
“My perfect case,” von Karma seethes, her whip in her hands. Phoenix looks at it cautiously, worried for his safety. The prosecutor is rather trigger-happy with that whip, after all. “How am I supposed to defeat you when you’re being such a fool? Ridiculous.”
“Sorry,” Phoenix grimaces, although he’s not quite sure what he’s apologizing for. Getting shot in the shoulder? Letting his guard down? To be fair, he was simply walking into the courthouse. He had his hand on the entrance door and everything, when a sudden burst of pain shot through him, leaving him to tumble to the ground. Phoenix doesn’t quite remember what happened after that. He thinks Detective Gumshoe might have come across him, sprawled on the pavement in front of the courthouse. His memory is hazy and he wasn’t conscious for very long anyways. It feels as if he fell to the ground and immediately woke up here.
“I should be fine for the trial,” Phoenix maintains, clenching his uninjured fist.
“Hmph,” von Karma crosses her arms over her chest, clearly not impressed. Phoenix resolutely ignores her and tries to push himself up into a sitting position. The moment he does so, an overwhelming wave of vertigo and nausea hits him. He blindly clutches for the railing on his bed, blinking stars out of his eyes. He doesn’t want to look up to see the vindictive expression on the prosecutor’s face. His thoughts begin to spiral, spiral, spiral...
“I think De Killer shot me.” The confession falls from his lips before he can remember to consider the repercussions.
“What?” von Karma seethes, an incredulous expression on her face. Phoenix contemplates for a moment, before eventually deciding that she’s trustworthy enough to be in the loop. Von Karma remains silent as he describes Maya being kidnapped and held for ransom. He’s pretty sure he knows why he was shot, and he tells her as much.
Phoenix feels incredibly restless, just sitting here while Maya is in danger. It’s not like he had much choice in the matter, though. “De Killer was insistent that I didn’t tell anyone about Maya, especially the police,” Phoenix explains, biting his lip.
“You told me yesterday,” a far too familiar voice sounds. Phoenix looks up, only to find Miles Edgeworth standing in the doorway. He looks rather out of place in the drab white walls of the room, especially considering he’s wearing his typical court attire. Phoenix grips the sheets on his bed, feeling uptight all of a sudden.
“Edgeworth?”
“Wright,” the prosecutor says, taking a few more steps into the room. Phoenix watches as his enemy, rival, friend, turns to look at Von Karma. They clearly expected to see each other, as they simply exchange nods. Meanwhile, Phoenix crosses his arms over his chest and tries his best to suppress the flood of emotions that seems to be coursing through him. There’s a particular question on the tip of his tongue, but he’s not sure if he wants to know the answer. “The trial was postponed, of course,” Edgeworth states, evidently taking notice of the unspoken question lingering in Phoenix’s trembling hands.
“No,” a voice says. It doesn’t sound like his, but it must be, because Edgeworth’s lips are pulled taut in a thin line and Von Karma is entirely silent. “No, no, no! Maya is— I was supposed to—” Suddenly, the white walls of the hospital seem to collapse around him. Phoenix ducks his head down, focusing on his shaking hands in his lap, the itchy blanket draped over his legs, anything but the two prosecutors in front of him. Phoenix doesn’t want to be vulnerable, weak, in front of them.
“Breathe, Wright.” He doesn’t even realize he’s not breathing until he inhales sharply and the burning feeling in his chest begins to subside. Phoenix takes another breath and tries to regain his composure. The effort doesn’t quite work, especially since every time he blinks he sees Maya, stranded, starved and alone. God, he’s just useless, isn’t he? Phoenix is confined to a mattress in a hospital room while Maya is in mortal danger. It’s pathetic. He promised he would protect her and he didn’t. Phoenix should never have let her out of his sight. This is his fault.
“This isn’t your fault, Wright.” Phoenix startles at Edgeworth’s sudden statement, momentarily amazed as to how the prosecutor caught onto his thought process. Regardless, an argument is on the tip of his tongue when someone interrupts him.
“Mr. Nick!” Pearl barrels into the room, bumping shoulders with both of the prosecutors as she does so. Von Karma’s hand twitches for her whip and Edgeworth looks annoyed for the briefest of moments. Phoenix, however, can’t focus on anything except the girl in front of him. “I w-was so worried!” Pearl exclaims, her fingers clutching at his shirt as she leans into his chest. Phoenix hesitates for a moment before reciprocating, placing a comforting hand on the nape of her neck. “First Mystic Maya, and now you!”
“I’m sorry, Pearls,” Phoenix whispers, feeling tears spring to his eyes. He quickly wipes them away, not wanting Pearls to see, and pats her on the head awkwardly. He’s never been very good at these types of things. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“You have to save her, Mr. Nick!” Pearl says. Phoenix immediately wants to slap a hand to her mouth, to prevent her from saying what he’s expecting her to say. Sure enough, there’s a familiar sparkly look in her eyes. “The prince always saves the princess!” He can feel Edgeworth and von Karma’s gazes burning into him, but he ignores them in lieu of Pearls.
“Pearls…” Phoenix doesn’t have the heart to argue with that claim now. It would break her heart, he knows. Sometime after the trial, he’ll tell her. For now, though, he’s content with pulling the girl into a hug. Guilt settles in his chest, prickling and thrumming under his skin. He can’t even begin to imagine what Pearls is feeling.
A pointed cough breaks him out of his self-deprecating thoughts. Phoenix looks up to find von Karma looking at Pearl. He understands what she’s trying to get at, and it seems Pearls does too. She’s really rather clever, he remembers. Not that he’d ever forget, but still.
“I’m staying with Mr. Nick!” Von Karma looks at him, waiting for him to argue, but Phoenix simply shrugs. He’s not about to deny Pearls anything, especially after they just reunited. He glances at Edgeworth, who seems to be suppressing a laugh. The moment they make eye contact, the restrained laughter disappears. Phoenix pretends not to notice and turns back to Von Karma.
“Pearls has been with me for the entire investigation, anyway,” he explains.
“You fool,” von Karma hisses, her frustration dimming as her gaze turns from him to Pearls. Pearls blinks at her, entirely unfazed. “How old are you, little girl?”
“I’m eight,” Pearls responds, squinting at the prosecutor. Von Karma’s eyes widen and Phoenix resists the urge to laugh. He remembers his first encounter with Pearl. He had been surprised too—at how well-spoken and mature she seemed. “My name is Pearl Fey, not little girl... ”
“Maya Fey’s sister?” von Karma asks, an unreadable expression on her face. Pearls shakes her head and starts explaining their relationship, evidently not taking notice of the strange look on the prosecutor’s face. Phoenix files the prosecutor’s reaction to the back of his mind, resolving himself to think about it later. “Interesting. Still, you will have to leave.”
“Mystic Maya needs all the help she can get,” Pearls asserts, crossing her arms over her chest as she stands at his bedside. Phoenix can’t help but be impressed with her, for standing up to Franziska von Karma of all people. It seems the prosecutor is slightly impressed too, but it’s hard to tell.
“That’s true,” Edgeworth pipes up, drawing Phoenix’s eyes away from Pearls. Von Karma looks vaguely put out, as if frustrated by the conversation. “We deployed a search team last night, as I mentioned earlier, but they haven’t found any leads yet. Any ideas, Wright?”
“I don’t think so…” Phoenix breaks off, wracking his brain for anything useful. There are a few things from the investigation that are still weighing on his mind. Namely, the conversation he had with De Killer just before the trial. There was a strange noise at the very end of the call, something resembling a cat. Phoenix can’t shake the feeling that he’s seen a cat recently. But where?
“Useless,” Von Karma spits. Phoenix ignores the dig, instead trying to figure out just where he saw a cat. It had a strange name too. Boot? Shirt? Shoes? He thinks he’s getting close. Shoes…? Shoe! He had to feed a cat named Shoe, at his client Matt Engarde’s request. Dread coils in his chest as he finally makes the connection.
“Engarde’s mansion,” Phoenix realizes aloud. Everyone turns to look at him and he grimaces, slightly embarrassed about his outburst. He’s a bit too worried about Maya to truly care how desperate he sounds, however. He glances around the room. Edgeworth looks pensive, Pearls looks hopeful and Von Karma looks confused, if that’s even possible for her. “That’s where Maya is.”
Von Karma squints at him. “How do you know this?”
“Just trust me,” is the only explanation Phoenix can provide. He’s tired, despite the fact that he hasn’t moved from the bed yet. He doesn’t have it in him to explain the rather lengthy story behind his visit to Engarde’s mansion. Von Karma lets out an annoyed sigh, clearly seeking more information. Phoenix turns his attention to Edgeworth, trying to convey what he’s feeling through their eye contact. The effort seems to work, because Edgeworth nods and turns to Von Karma.
“Let’s go, then,” Edgeworth decides, taking a half-step forwards. Phoenix is immensely grateful to notice that there’s no hesitance or doubt in his expression, only resolve.
“What?” Von Karma remarks. “You trust this fool?”
“I… suppose,” Edgeworth responds, his nose scrunched and his eyebrows furrowed as if the act of speaking to that trust is revolting. Von Karma stares at him for a long time, her eyes narrowing and flitting about his face as if searching for something. A victorious smirk falls onto her face a moment later, and she pats him on the shoulder condescendingly before leaving the room.
“Well, I’ll see you later, Wright,” Edgeworth says, grimacing as if he’s genuinely disappointed to be leaving. Phoenix raises an eyebrow, but the man turns before he can dissect his facial expression. It isn’t until Edgeworth is a half-step away from leaving that Phoenix remembers.
“Wait!” Phoenix exclaims. The prosecutor turns around, raising an eyebrow and gesturing for him to elaborate. “I’m going too.”
“Absolutely not,” Edgeworth responds immediately. Phoenix inhales sharply, not expecting the blunt denial. He tries to say something else and, before long, the two of them are immersed in an argument. “Wright, you were just shot.”
“What is taking you fools so long?” von Karma interjects from where she’s standing out in the lobby.
“Wright wants to come with,” Edgeworth states, as if it’s the most foolish thing he’s ever heard of. Phoenix doesn’t think it’s that crazy of a request, but it must be, because the expression on Von Karma’s face darkens and her eyebrows furrow as she walks up to the doorway.
“Phoenix Wright…” von Karma breaks off, her whip in hand. She takes one look at it before promptly cracking it but a few inches from his face. Phoenix swears in surprise, flattening his back against the mattress behind him. He can’t decide if he should be frightened or relieved that she didn’t hit him. “You will stay.”
“No, I can’t,” Phoenix shakes his head, feeling his panic from earlier begin to return. He tries to push himself off the bed again, only to be stopped by a hand on the shoulder. Edgeworth shoves him back, not unkindly. He stares at the prosecutor, trying to figure out just what is going through the man’s head. Does Phoenix even want to know? Probably not.
“You can stay and you will, Wright,” Edgeworth says, his voice carrying the same coldness he carries in the courtroom. Phoenix is rather surprised to be on the receiving end of Edgeworth’s annoyance. It’s far from the first time, but still.
“Someone has to look after… Miss Fey.” von Karma nods down at Pearl, who is lingering at the edge of his bed. Phoenix nods, watching as the prosecutor promptly exits the room and leaves him with Pearls and Edgeworth. For an awkward moment or two, an uneasy silence stretches across the space. Pearls seems to sense the tension, because she remains quiet too.
“I won’t betray your trust.” It’s Edgeworth of all people to break the silence. Phoenix looks at the prosecutor, surprised to notice the man’s clenched fists and tight jaw. Above those signs, however, there’s a serious expression on his face.
“I know,” Phoenix blurts out, before he can help it. Edgeworth’s eyebrows raise and his eyes widen briefly. For a long moment, the two of them stare at each other in silence. There’s a million different things Phoenix wants to say, but he’s not quite sure how. His hands twitch on the sheets, as he grapples for something to say, anything. To his surprise, Edgeworth also looks speechless—uncharacteristically so.
“Miles Edgeworth!” von Karma yells from the lobby, clearly impatient. The two of them startle. “Stop gaping!” Edgeworth’s cheeks flush for the shortest of moments, before he nods resolutely and turns to walk out the door. Phoenix watches as Edgeworth pauses in the doorway and places a hand on the doorframe.
“I promise we’ll find her,” Edgeworth murmurs under his breath, so quietly that Phoenix swears he imagines it for a moment. His head is tilted to the side, hiding his face. Phoenix can’t see his expression, yet he can see the determination written in the lines of his shoulders. The prosecutor lingers for a moment before leaving and shutting the door behind him. Phoenix then turns to Pearls, a hesitant smile working its way onto his face.
“Pearls, I think Maya will be just fine,” he claims, his previous nervousness beginning to disappear.
“Mystic Maya, Mr. Nick,” Pearls corrects him.
“Same thing,” Phoenix gestures offhandedly, knowing it will annoy Pearls. Sure enough, she has that far too cute pout on her face. Phoenix can’t resist a laugh at that. Before he knows it, he’s laughing hysterically. Pearls is staring at him like he’s crazy, but Phoenix can’t quite control his amusement. Above all else, though, he’s relieved. He has people he can count on: Edgeworth, von Karma, Detective Gumshoe, and Pearls. He’s deathly worried about Maya, of course, but with his friends’ help, he knows she’ll be rescued in no time.