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The Philippines was a beautiful country.
Phoenix had always talked about how much he loved visiting his relatives there, promising to take Miles and Larry with him one day. And well, that one day was right now. When Phoenix had invited the two to accompany him, Larry had accepted immediately and Miles needed some convincing, though he was just as thrilled as the two as they made plans of what to do in the country. Apparently, Phoenix’s family was excited to meet them, especially Miles. Phoenix said they were always telling him to get a girlfriend or boyfriend.
So far, a few days into the trip, it had been lovely. It was a beautiful country, the skies and ocean waters bluer than a sparkling sapphire, trees dotted all around the place—a nice pop of green from the gray concretes of the buildings and the dark asphalt of the roads. Well, some of them, the other roads were not cemented yet and were simply dirt. There were a lot of animals too, stray cats that ran away and stray dogs of undiscernible breeds staring up at them with puppy eyes when they ate at carinderias, before Miles, ever the dog person, sighed and gave the dogs some of the meat he was eating.
Phoenix’s nieces and nephews—some of them were technically his uncles and aunts despite being decades younger? How was that even possible?—jumped up and down in excitement as he gave them pasalubong from America. His aunts and uncles—who were actually older than him—doted on all three of them, not just Phoenix. They stuffed them full of homecooked Filipino foods, pestering him about finally getting a child so they could spoil their beloved apo. Larry was quickly able to befriend Phoenix’s relatives his age, laughing with them like they were old friends. The more romantic of his relatives gave Miles tips and tricks to make their relationship more “romantic”, when he didn’t need any advice, thank you very much!
After a whole afternoon spent at a street market, going through stall after stall, Larry and Miles just letting Phoenix talk to the vendors since they didn’t know a single lick of any Filipino languages, they soon wandered through the downtown of the city. Larry devoured his fifth potato twister that he’d bought from a street food vendor, talking loudly with Phoenix about something or another. Miles simply kept quiet, chimed in every now and again, but he mostly stared up at the night sky. Even the skies here seemed more beautiful, a sea of stars and opalescent nebulae.
At the sound of Larry’s voice addressing him and Phoenix specifically, Miles turned from the stars and to Larry.
“Yo, Nick, Edgey! Look!” Larry grinned as he pointed at one of the bars. On a tarpaulin poster on the windows of a bar, it advertised its weekly karaoke night. “Karaoke! Man, that sounds awesome!”
“And loud…” Miles grumbled, he was already tired out from walking so much today.
“Karaoke, the Philippines’ national sport…other than basketball.” Phoenix laughed, then adding. “But wow, I forgot about their weekly karaoke nights. Tito Angie used to take me there a lot.” He turned to Larry and Miles with a smile. “Wanna go in?”
“Yes!” Larry exclaimed.
“No.” Miles said at the same time.
Larry shot him a glare. “What the hell, Edgey? This is a once in a lifetime experience, dude!”
“Oh, really?” Miles scoffed. “I doubt that the Philippines would get up and walk away, disappearing and never to be found again.”
Phoenix groaned. “That’s not what he meant, Edgeworth.”
“Then what did he mean?” Miles asked, frowning.
“Edgeworth, stuff like this doesn’t happen very often! I mean, you’re always saying you wished you got out of your comfort zone more, right?” Phoenix asked, adding when Miles nodded. “This is your chance, then! You won’t get out of your comfort zone by never taking risks, you know?”
Miles glanced at the storefront of the bar, before glancing back at Larry and Phoenix, the former giving him puppy eyes and the latter staring at him with imploring eyes. They were right, taking a few risks couldn’t hurt, and well…karaoke sounded fun! If he didn’t have to sing, that was.
“…Oh, alright.” Miles said with a smile.
Larry and Phoenix cheered.
The two entered the bar, a cozy place filled with warm camaraderie and laughter. Karaoke hadn’t started yet, it seemed, though Miles could see a stage where people could sing later when it started. Phoenix asked what drinks they wanted, ordered for them and talked to the bartender in Bisaya, and Larry went off to flirt with some girls.
It was actually…nice. Sitting here, drinking in the mundane ambience of the bar. This was going to be a nice night, his friends would laugh as they drunkenly sang, and Miles would cheer them on from the audience, an amazing bang to end an already amazing day.
What could go wrong?
A lot of things, it turned out.
━━━━ ❰ ･ ❉ ･ ❱ ━━━━
Miles quietly sat at one of the tables as he listened to Phoenix sing, his head already buzzing from the alcohol he drunk.
When the karaoke started after a few minutes staying at the bar, everyone began cheering, one of the workers announcing that anyone could request a song and come up on stage. Various people sang on the stage, all singing like they were on the Voice, like their lives depended on it. And dammit, so many of them had amazing voices, and those whose voices were average or downright off-key made up for it in their enthusiasm. It was fun, watching in awe as person after person sang, everyone clapping like they’d heard the most beautiful siren song once the song had ended.
Encouraged by all of the other patrons singing in the bar, Phoenix got up on stage, getting handed the microphone. He’d chosen a Taylor Swift song—as a joke, he was sure. Taylor Swift wasn’t even in his top 20 favorite musical artists—and the bar filled with the upbeat sound of her music. Miles had heard him sing a few times, and each time was much more amazing than the last. He always had a nice voice, and his singing voice was no different.
“…But she wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts. She’s Cheer Captain, and I'm on the bleachers…” Phoenix was grinning as he sang to his heart’s content. “Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find, that what you're looking for has been here the whole time…”
Miles smiled at the sight of it, Phoenix, laughing onstage, enjoying himself as he sang. It always made sampaguita petals flutter, seeing his wide grin, the overjoyed expression on his face, knowing that the man he was in love with was happy as can be. The world felt calm, at peace, like nothing was wrong, when he laughed so melodiously, a song that Miles would listen to for eternity and still love. He smiled and took another sip of beer, as Phoenix continued to sing.
“Standing by and waiting at your backdoor, all this time how could you not know, baby? You belong with me, you belong with me.” Phoenix made grand dramatic gestures with each sung line, everyone at the bar loved it. “You belong with me. Have you ever thought, just maybe, you belong with me? You belong with me.”
Everyone in the bar cheered, Phoenix grinning as his eyes twinkled with delight. They asked for Phoenix to sing more, and he complied easily, singing some Tagalog song that one of the patrons had suggested. Miles did not understand a single word in the song—again, he didn’t know a single word of any Filipino language—but he was just happy to see Phoenix smiling so widely as he sang.
As he took another sip of his beer, he saw Larry smiling mischievously at him. Oh god, what did he have planned? “Yes, Larry? Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Y’know Edgey, you should like, go up and sing.” Larry said.
“No thank you, Larry.” Miles immediately said.
“Awww, c’mon.” Larry pouted. “Whole point of karaoke is to sing, ya know.”
“I’m not singing.” Miles said with a sigh, then adding when Larry frowned at him. “Even if I were to sing, what song should I choose?”
“There’s one song, Edgey, that Filipinos really love hearing in karaoke. You know what it is?” Larry grinned when Miles raised a brow at him. “My Way.”
“…The Frank Sinatra song?” Miles questioned.
“Yeah! You know, the themes of being unapologetic and persevering like, really resonates with Filipinos!” Larry was drunkenly snickering. “I think you should sing it.”
“I don’t know…” Miles trailed off.
“C’mooooon Edgey.” Larry nudged Miles playfully, wiggling his eyebrows as he glanced at Phoenix. “Don’t you wanna impress Nick with your singing skills?”
Miles glanced at Phoenix, who was laughing as he sang another Taylor Swift song. He was totally in his element, his voice beautiful as he sang about Taylor’s ex-boyfriend or something. And the thought of it, of Phoenix’s eyes shining with pride and adoration as Miles sang on stage…well, it was much more appealing than he’d like to admit.
And maybe it was just the alcohol, but the idea of it wasn’t like, completely and unacceptably horrible.
He sighed. “…Fine. I’ll sing it.”
Larry’s grin widened. “Attaboy! Go get ‘em, tiger!”
After Phoenix had finished, going back to the three, Miles walked up to the stage before anyone else could go up onstage. The man who was handling the songs smiled at him, fiddling with the laptop connected to the speakers and TV.
“Ikaw, sir? Anong song gusto ‘mong kantahin…” The man trailed off when Miles stared at him. “Ah, English only?” At Miles’ nod, the man said. “What song do you want, sir?”
“My Way, Frank Sinatra.” Miles said.
“Ay, sir? Are you sure you want that song?” The man asked, he looked a little…nervous. He then added. “Ano kasi, it’s-”
“Just play the song.” Miles cut him off.
The man frowned, but he nodded and handed Miles the microphone.
Soon, the familiar musical swell of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” started to fill the air. His eyes searched through the crowd, noting how…tense everyone seemed. Some were too drunk to care, but some people cringed, like they knew something he didn’t. Phoenix was grimacing, and Larry was laughing his ass off. Why were they reacting like this? Didn’t Larry say that Filipinos liked this song? Though he didn’t have much time to dwell on it further, the little ball that signified which line the song was on appeared, and started to travel through the lyrics.
“And now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain.” Miles started to sing, his voice a little shaky, but he was trying his best. “My friend, I’ll say it clear-”
“YABAG KAAYO OI!”
Miles stopped mid-verse, staring at the elderly Filipino man in the white tank top, who was glaring at him as he took a sip of his San Miguel beer. What did he say? Miles didn’t understand Filipino.
“What the fuck- HOY! PAGHILOM!” Phoenix yelled at the man.
“Yeah! Paygheeloum!” Larry yelled at him too, then whispering to Phoenix. “What does that mean, Nick?”
“It’s…I’ll tell you later.” Phoenix said.
“Dili siya marunong kumanta! Unsa man ni, oi? Mukhang buang sa stage, mas makakanta ang aso ko!” The elderly Filipino man said.
“Putang ina- ‘wag mo ganyanin si Miles! Bobo!” Phoenix yelled at the man.
“Ikaw ang bobo!”
“Gusto lang niyang kumanta! Anong problema mo?”
“Di siyang marunong kumanta! 'Yan ang problema ko!”
“PAGHILOM!” A short girl that Larry had been talking to earlier had suddenly yelled. “Malapit na matapos yung song! Patapusin mo nalang gud siya!”
“Kung hindi, ano gawain mo?” The elderly man challenged.
The short girl frowned, rolling up her sleeves. “Gawain ko ito!”
She suddenly threw her San Miguel glass bottle at the man, and the bar devolved into chaos at that. Everyone threw stuff at each other, swore to hell and back as punches were thrown at anyone and everyone. Larry—expectedly—joined the chaos, throwing a few beer cans at some people who got too close to him, and Phoenix dodged and evaded every punch and flying beer bottles and cans that flew his way.
And all the while, Miles stood onstage, watching the chaos unfold in the previously peaceful bar with bewilderment and horror.
How the hell did this all happen from a Frank Sinatra song?
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Miles Edgeworth, Phoenix Wright, and Larry Butz, were all currently in a police car, being driven to the closest police station.
The chaos at the bar had gotten so bad that the police were called, and police officers immediately came into the bar, met with the chaotic scene of furniture toppled all over the place, bar-goers either on the floor unconscious or throwing punches at each other, crumpled beer cans and shattered glass bottles strewn all about the floor. They broke up the fight, and arrested anyone who was still conscious and had those who were unconscious driven to the police station.
It was surreal, being driven in the back of a police car. Miles would’ve never thought he’d be in this situation. Upside? He wasn’t being accused of murder. Downside? Well, he was still being goddamn arrested.
And Phoenix wasn’t too thrilled about it, either. In fact, he looked pissed.
“Oh god.” Phoenix groaned. “This night is a disaster.”
“You’re telling me! I mean, the bar fight was fun, but getting arrested? Not as fun.” Larry said.
Phoenix groaned again, glaring at Miles. “And this is all your fault, Edgeworth.”
“What? What did I do? I didn’t partake in the fight!” Miles protested.
“You chose the song! What the hell did you expect would happen?”
“What? Frank Sinatra? What’s wrong with Frank Sinatra?”
“Wait, so you don’t know about…” Phoenix trailed off, frowning.
Miles raised a brow. “About what?”
“The My Way Killings, man.” Larry said.
“The My Way what?!”
“My Way is kinda an urban legend here, Edgeworth.” Phoenix said, adding at Miles’ confused face. “Okay, so like, for some reason people get really violent when My Way is sung in karaoke here in the Philippines. As in, people have died from it.”
“I- I didn’t know that!” Miles shot Larry a glare. “You knew that and you told me to sing it?!”
“Wait a second, Larry.” Phoenix looked exasperated as all hell. “You told Edgeworth to sing that song? What the hell?!”
“I didn’t think he’d actually do it! I mean, Edgey’s a pussy!” Larry said.
“Wow, thank you kindly, Larry.” Miles said sarcastically.
“Well, let this be a lesson for you Edgeworth: never sing My Way in karaoke again.” Phoenix said.
Slowly, Miles smirked. “Or more accurately, don’t listen to Larry at all, no matter the circumstance.”
“H-Hey!” Larry protested.
Despite the situation, they all laughed.