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Project Kallisti - PW Superhero AU - UPDATED FEB 5THTopic%20Title
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Is he doing JAZZ HANDS at the camera!?

Gender: Female

Location: In the closet

Rank: Decisive Witness

Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:59 pm

Posts: 207

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This fic/AU is set AFTER the events of Trials and Tribulations. There WILL be spoilers for all three games.


*ANNOUNCEMENT*Corrected the links to the various chapters. Sorry for the confusion!*ANNOUNCEMENT*

The Butterfly Effect - the idea that one simple action can spawn a whole chain of events - appliues not only to Project Kallisti's setting, but it's creation. MercuryKitten randomly added me to MSN, and after talking for a while, it turned out we both had the same idea - Phoenix Wright characters with superpowers.

And we'd both rejected said idea, because it sounded too much like crack, but after a long weekend of plotting we ended up with this. XD Expect multiple story arcs, plot twists, and a whole lot of crazy powers, all while being (somewhat) serious.

Hope you enjoy it! :3 (<3 Team Kallisti)

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*ANNOUNCEMENT*Project Kallisti is now on deviantart!*ANNOUNCEMENT*

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Chapter Index

Arc Zero
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Side Story: Lady Luck

Samurai Arc
Chapter 1
Side Story: Jailer's Elegy
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Side Story: Sidekick
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

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Special Thanks to:
Sakuro
Rii
Sh1n1 ze FIER
ThePCD


Who have all contributed ideas/concept art which made the final cut. X3

And of course...

EVERYONE WHO DID FANART/FANFICS (Click here for FAN SECTION!)


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"It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world." - Chaos Theory

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The Kallisti Project - Arc Zero - Chapter 1

“Samuraaaaaaaai~KICK!”

Phoenix jumped suddenly, sitting bolt upright in his chair.

He should have been expecting it, really…Saturday morning, a little way into the Nickel Samurai show. It often woke him up at the frankly unnatural hour of 8:15, and he'd pull his pillow over his head and sleep in a while longer. But this time, he’d been there to see the opening credits.

[Let’s see…] The lawyer picked up a wad of hastily stapled papers, and rubbed his eyes. Were these last week's, or last month's? At this time in the morning, any letters just merged into one big grey blur. But he'd had to get up not-so-bright and early to try and make a dent in his office work, even though it felt like trying to plug a broken dam with a single cork.

Every day, there seemed to be more, recent cases or no. He often wondered whether the papers had somehow evolved into a new species, and were reproducing like rabbits.

“The Nickel Samurai will be right back after this!” The television announced far-too-cheerfully. Not even a pre-recorded message should be that energetic in the early morning.

“Ahh…another great episode so far…!” his assistant said just as cheerfully from her position on the couch. Maya always found a way to make herself the exception to most rules, and even certain laws. Including laws of nature.

It was hard to believe Global Studios had continued showing the series, and that it was still going almost a year after the Engarde case. Then again, the sudden cancellation of the Steel Samurai, and the scandal-plagued Pink Princess series (though Nick himself though it was obvious there was a man in that rubber suit), must have been a blow. But the many pre-recorded Nickel Samurai episodes in their film banks probably kept cash flowing into their piggy banks, until the next whatever-Samurai came along.

And then there were rumours, that Maya had talked about for a week straight, about a Steel Samurai revival series. They must have finally run out of ideas.

He sighed, and pulled his gaze away. Even an commercial for some sugary cereal was more riveting than the towering stacks of paper before him. [Run around in a goofy costume for a while…get fame, respect, and money...if only it were that easy for the rest of us.]

“...Wouldn’t it be cool, though, Nick? If you could have awesome Samurai powers?”

“Huh?” Phoenix looked up from his work. […Even this early, she’s off on one of her tangents…?]

“Yeah…” Maya twirled one of her long bangs between her fingers as she lay back on the couch. Her eyes were glazed with a faraway look, picturing something other than the grubby ceiling. Once he'd cleaned the toilet for the hundredth or so time, he should maybe devote some time to that. “…it’d be so cool! To be a hero, like on TV…”

“Mm-hm…” was the disinterested reply. This was followed by shuffling as the sleepy attorney tried to find his place in the treacherous jungle of paragraphs.

“Powers like…um…psychic powers!”

Nick raised an eyebrow. This caught some of his attention, if only for its sheer silliness. “…Don’t you already have those?”

“Well, yeah, I guess…but what about being able to move things? With my mind! Telly-ker…something. Oh! And glowing force fields! And I could fly, and, and...!”

He smirked. It was like hearing a little kid on Santa’s lap, asking for a pink unicorn and a stable to keep it in. “And what? Eat 100 Cheeseburgers in one minute?” It was the first thing that popped into his head, but he nearly regretted saying it. Knowing Maya, she might take it as a challenge, superpowers or no superpowers.

“A hundred...? That’s a start, but I was thinking closer to a billion, just in case there’s an invasion of Cheeseburger Monsters from Jupiter.” She clapped her hands together, nodding in approval. To a company like Global Studios, a girl like her was a goldmine. To a lawyer...the occasional migraine. “You’re getting good at this, Nick!”

[…If that’s really the case, then I fear for my own sanity…]

Yawning, Phoenix blinked as he took another glance at the papers littering his desk. Now he was convinced they were multiplying. Were those reports in triplicate before?

His assistant, meanwhile, was watching The Nickel Samurai again, with familiar eye-glazed joy. She seemed able to lose herself in the fantasy, forgetting the man in the rubber suit had played a large part in her own kidnapping. Now, if only she’d lose herself in some paperwork, like he was trying to do. But ‘thou shalt not interrupt the sacred Samurai hour’ was the first commandment, in the Holy Book of Maya.

Maybe he’d try and persuade her during the next commercial break. Until then, there was his own epic battle against office work, where the pen was mightier than the sword.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8:30 was time to wake up, as it always was. If you didn’t wake up, someone would come banging on your cell door until you did. Flexible hours were a freedom. and freedom was a privilege not granted to prisoners.

Things ran like clockwork even in the minimum security wing of Lockeforge Prison. The same thing, the same hours, day in day out...and this was what rewarded those with good behaviour. To someone used to near-unlimited flexibility in life, up until just over a year ago, it was especially mind-numbing. Everything from his waking hours to his choice of degree had been flexible until he'd made that choice, out of panic, on the spur of the moment.

Richard Wellington, dressed in the same orange jumpsuit as the other inmates, sat down at his usual breakfast table, staring into his usual cold cereal. Everything about his life had changed since he'd been found guilty, and yet things never really changed here. It was always routine. And, like every Saturday morning, he could almost count down the seconds. Five…four…

“Ahh! Welly, my boy! How are we this morning? Been swimming lately?”

“…You’re early, Mr. Gant…” Wellington replied, smiling grimly into his bowl. A few seconds meant a lot, when they were spent in the company of one Damon Gant. When the former Police Chief had first approached him, he'd been tempted to ask for a transfer, straight back to the Max Security cell he’d come from.

But...when life gives you bananas…

“Couldn’t help it, Welly! Ho ho ho!” the man laughed heartily. You could always tell who the newer inmates were, from who gave his compulsive hand-clapping a sideways look. Like so much else, you just accepted it, over time.

Suddenly, he felt an arm around his shoulder, surprisingly powerful despite the man's age. The former student physically shuddered, and dropped his spoon with a quiet clatter. Gant was in a good mood.

“There’s change in the air, m’boy!" Richard visibly flinched as he saw a finger, pointed right between his bespectacled eyes like a pistol. "I can feel it. Something big is about to happen! Very soon, too! Oh ho ho, yes!”

The younger man shook his head, and brushed the blonde streak from his eyes as he slowly inched away. Prophetic visions weren’t a usual topic of conversation, but that didn’t mean he wanted to talk about it. Or, indeed, wanted to talk about anything at all. Ever. At least with him.

“This is prison, Mr. Gant…the only thing that changes here are the lunch menus.”

And yet the words were already out of his mouth. Why didn’t he just smile and nod, like every Saturday…?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“…Are you entirely positive this is the correct location?”

“SIR! I am completely sure this is in fact the correct location, SIR!” Mike Meekins lowered his saluting arm and his megaphone slowly, realising his mistake. “…S-sorry, sir…”

“That’s…quite alright, officer…” Edgeworth said exasperatedly, and a little louder than normal, to speak over the sudden ringing in his ears. His expression betrayed his words, but Officer Meekins seemed just as oblivious as ever.

The prosecutor rubbed his temples. Of all the incompetent idiots on the force…he would have preferred Detective Gumshoe. But the scruffy scatterbrain just had to take a day’s leave, on the same day this hot potato of a case had landed in his lap. A homicide in which the body was disposed of in an acid bath, and now he was stuck with the one man on the force most likely to faint at the sight of blood. Deary, deary me.

Maybe Gumshoe was due another pay cut for his impromptu day off, announced just the day before. But maybe, just for once, he could let it slide. For lack of a better word, it had been quite...touching, the previous day. Talking about his upcoming ‘date’ with former Officer Byrde, the Detective made a cup of coffee and a walk sound like prom night, and had looked suitably nervous.

It was hard to believe it had taken such a formidable-looking man such a long time to pluck up the courage, just to ask that. A part of Edgeworth wished him luck. Another part, meanwhile, was adding up the exact amount to deduct from another policeman’s salary…

His other companion seemed to notice his slightly icier demeanour, and how he was glancing, impatiently, at his watch. It was just past 8:45, and he had better things to do than stand around.

“You…should probably open the door now, Officer Meekins.” She slipped her pink goggles over her eyes.

Forensics prodigy, Miss Ema Skye…his other, actually competent ally. From what he’d heard, her feet had only just touched American soil for the first time in two years, and here she was, picking up cases. It had been a while since they last met, but he could tell she’d grown during her time in Europe…no longer a girl, but a young lady.

“I can’t wait to see what’s inside…!! It’s a good thing I brought extra Luminol…” She glanced up at the dilapidated, abandoned warehouse towering before them. “…from the size of this place, we’ll need it!”

But some things never changed...even now, she still maintained her usual quirkiness. The prosecutor was, however, very thankful for her presence. It had been a lifesaver, even if the life was that of a certain officer, who was giving another overzealous salute.

“Right away, sir!” ever the dutiful officer, Meekins opened the door.

The inside would have been pitch black, if not for the shafts of light filtering down, through the numerous holes in the corroded roof. It was hard to pick out any real details; just piles of boxes, barrels, and what appeared to be gas canisters. Contents…unknown. But probably of no relevance to the case at hand.

Luckily, the police department had equipped them with the latest weaponry in the fight against semi-darkness. The trio each armed themselves with a cheap-looking flashlight.

“Sir! Permission to enter and check for potential dangers, sir!”

Potential dangers…? From what Edgeworth could see, there were few, if any. The roof had obviously seen better days, and rain pouring through the holes had rusted some forgotten barrels beyond recognition, but it didn’t look like it would fall in any time soon. And what would be lurking around a place like this except, perhaps, the occasional lost rat?

“You go right ahead, Officer Meekins, sir!” Ema interrupted, smiling and giving a salute in return. Adjusting her goggles slightly, she pointed her Luminol bottle like a kid with a water gun.

[Oh, for Christ’s sake…don’t encourage him…and especially don’t imitate him!] He could feel a migraine gaining momentum already.

He followed the others, their feet disturbing a thick carpet of dust on the floor. Areas where homicides had taken place were never pleasant, but rarely this filthy. This place hadn't seen a broom, or maybe even a human being, in a long time...perhaps, even a decade or so.

Miss Skye had already started her investigations, her pen darting back and forth across her notepad, taking down every detail in words. She stopped as quickly as she’d started, and busied herself with strategically spraying her luminol onto any suspicious areas.

Meekins, meanwhile, seemed to be intent on making as much racket as possible as he explored the back of the warehouse. Every footfall sounded far too loud for the inches of dust on the floor, and his loud requests for any suspects to come quietly weren't helping his case.

The man leaned against a large crate behind him. The two extremes of the Police Force…it was no wonder the city was more of a mess than this crime scene.

Feeling slightly bored, Edgeworth aimed his flashlight's barely adequate beam at a nearby barrel, and something piqued his curiously. He blinked, and squinting in the weak light - there was something printed in black letters, but what, he couldn't tell. As much as he disliked soiling his hands, he brushed away the layers of dust...and stepped back quickly, his eyes wide.

Even after years of neglect, the message was clear as day…and they must be surrounded...!

Looking around, he knew where Ema was, but where was that fool Meekins? Hearing the creak of floorboards, he saw the man had made his way up onto a rickety balcony, dust pouring down with each footstep. Another precarious situation was the last thing they needed!

“Listen to me, both of you! We have to get out of here, NOW!”

“Sir, commencing to get out of here right now SIR!” with one hand on a rusting guard rail for balance, the officer pulled the wrong hand up to salute.

“GAK!!!” he choked, wheeling round, his hand caught in the ID around his neck…and time seemed to slow to a crawl. He stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet…and his back slammed into another barrel...which broke through the brittle metal barrier, the wooden floor crumbling...

Surely, it wasn’t…!

The eternity the barrel took to fall was less than a second, but he still had time to see it was the same as the barrel he'd just seen. Identical, right down to the words “EXTREME CHEMICAL HAZARD” printed on the side.

Edgeworth didn’t think, there wasn’t any time. He just reacted.

There was a loud CRACK as it hit, contents spraying its surroundings. A thick, murky vapour started to fill the air, as the chemical ate through the other boxes and rusted barrels.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[8:59…]

Still very bored and half-asleep, Phoenix glanced at the clock, tapping it with the end of his pen, willing the hours to pass more quickly. The minute rolled over, leaving two perfect zeroes. He dropped his pen onto the desk, and sighed, leaning back in the chair. There was no rest for the wicked...even when he opened his eyes again, there'd still be work to do.

The pen jumped and rolled off the wooden surface at a sudden, slight tremor. The lawyer's eyes shot open and he steadied himself, getting ready to duck under his desk. The monthly earthquake drills in grade school were burned into his mind, even after all these years.

Then…nothing. Not even a slight quiver. Just the sound of a few car alarms going off, and a dog barking excitedly. It was almost melodramatic. “Hey Maya, did you feel that just now?”

"Huh?" Maya had never even looked up, seemingly hypnotised by the rolling credits onscreen. “What, you mean that little quake?” she smirked at him. “Are you worrying about Mr. Edgeworth? It'll give you wrinkles, and we both know you don't need any more of those...”

“Maya…” The lawyer rolled his eyes, and stepped over to the window to look outside. The tremor had been so small, maybe Edgeworth didn't even feel it. That set his train of thought rolling...he hadn’t seen much of the prosecutor recently. No doubt he was busying himself with cases…and, Phoenix turned to face the stacks of paper still haunting him, keeping his office as infuriatingly organised as ever.

[One day, I’ll catch whoever keeps breaking in here and dumping their case files on me…]

As he headed towards his desk, he missed the strange, thick, purple-tinted fog. Rolling down the street like a silent express train, blotting out the sun.

But he couldn’t miss the fact he’d left the window open.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edgeworth leaned his back against the plastic wall, alternating between coughing and trying to catch his breath. Whether it was from what remained of the fumes, or from fearing for his life, the floor beneath him shaking with a series of violent explosions, a few tears had escaped his eyes.

[Calm down, Miles…you’re still alive…and they’re still alive…]

It seemed the contents of the warehouse – once some kind of hidden laboratory, he'd deduced - had been a double-edged sword. The mixture of dangerous chemicals had nearly killed them, but a large fume closet, with a still-functioning extractor fan, was what saved them. They were safe, in their oasis of clean, breathable air.

But for how long...?

He bent over double in another sudden choking fit, and spat into the corner of the enclosed space. There was no meaning in even the most basic of manners, in this situation. Spitting, disgusting as it was, probably meant a little less poison to do him harm as his breathing slowly returned to normal.

But then there were his shoes, and the legs of his trousers, stained beyond all recognition by brightly coloured sludge. And after tackling Ema, getting her away from the falling barrel, and bringing her in here, the last thing he'd wanted to do was go back outside. And yet he'd waded ankle-deep through a toxic soup, blinded by smog, chemicals mixing and reacting and an explosion imminent.

The mixture hadn’t been as corrosive as the first barrel, thank god. But what other effect might it have, especially with so much exposure? He might have killed himself, just to save Mike Meekins, now lying unconscious on the floor next to Miss Skye…

But no…no, there was no ‘just’ here. Not when it came to life and death. Meekins…as infuriating as he was, and despite being the cause of this whole accident…was a human being. And despite being known, once upon a time, as the ‘Demon Prosecutor’, so was he. Miles Edgeworth wasn’t a hero. It was what humans did, going against every self-preservation instinct nature gave them.

Slowly and unsteadily, his palm pressed against smooth plastic for support, the man got to his feet and looked through the small viewing window. The air outside had been thick with a purple fog and the occasional flash of another explosion, but now, blinding sunlight was pouring in.

The broken and charred remains of boxes and barrels were strewn about like forgotten toys. And the roof was all but gone; a swimming pool-sized hole had been punched in it, remains of jagged metal littering the floor. One of the concrete walls, also, had an empty space one could easily drive a car through, if it didn't look on the verge of collapse.

Edgeworth’s heart immediately sank. Without the confines of the warehouse…such a huge explosion could have spread the cloud throughout a good part of the city. And curiosity, that was another part of human nature. How many had marvelled at the colourful smoke, unintentionally poisoning themselves just for a look? And how many had run, only to not get away in time?

He slumped to the floor, and took out his cellphone. The emergency services would be on their way, but they wouldn't be expecting three survivors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s ALL SECTORS!!" The sound of breaking glass, and some loud cheering...if only this were as harmless as a drunken brawl. "Send EVERYTHING down here – police, SWAT, the army, EVERYTHING!”

The lanky Tom Keyes, known around the prison as ‘Skeleton Man’ or just ‘Skelly’, was ducking with some difficulty under his desk. Every alarm in the place was screeching in his ears, but the emergency telephone, his only lifeline to the outside world, had just gone deadly silent.

“GOD DAMN YOU!” he yelled, throwing the handset at the floor. It bounced, and clattered across the hard tiles. He brushed his dark dreadlocks back with his hand…hardly a standard hairstyle for a prison guard. But a certain amount of informality was allowed, around prisoners with good behaviour. “They must have severed the lines or something…”

SLAM. The man yelped and curled up as much as he could at the sound. He couldn’t tell if the thing thrown against the bulletproof glass was some kind of projectile, or even one of his fellow guards. All he knew was any ‘good behaviour’ had been thrown out the window, and that he really didn’t want to look up…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Put me down, I said!! Do you hear me!?”

The alarms weren’t the only things shrieking around the prison yard. Richard Wellington, former student and current inmate, was quickly becoming an involuntary escapee.

He still couldn’t quite piece together what had happened, in his mind. There’d been some sort of thick, choking fog out in the prison yard. Then there was screaming, people running, and his already not-so-peaceful Saturday was all but gone as all hell broke loose.

“We’ve got to stick together, Welly-boy! Prison buddies until the end! Ho ho!”

And this was where the 'involuntary' part came in. Amidst the chaos, and still slightly damp from his morning swim, Damon Gant had grabbed the smaller, lighter man, and made a run for it. Even with the distraction of the scrawny creature under his arm, squealing and struggling like a stuck pig, his reflexes were as sharp as ever. Gant ducked suddenly to avoid an unfortunate guard, who'd been flung through the air to join an impressive pile of his KO’d comrades. “See? I told you something was going to happen, Welly! I just didn’t think it would be this big!”

His shell-shocked companion said nothing in return. But two anonymous guards, jumping out in front of them, did. “D-don’t move! We’ll shoot!!”

A command, but a little hesitant. Although they were armed with guns, a good percentage of the prisoners were now armed with things much stronger. Whatever happened in the last few minutes, their own bodies had become weapons, that they weren’t hesitating to use.

Gant, however, was feeling slightly vulnerable. If he had some new-found power, he couldn’t for the life of him figure out how to use it. Though his face remained stoic, he panicked slightly as the guards drew nearer…

“Don’t come any closer, or I might just use Welly-boy here! The things he can do…well, do you really want to find out, gentleman? Because I am sure it’s something unpleasant…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gumshoe fumbled with his car keys, sweat running down his reddened face. Why wouldn’t his stubby fingers work when he really needed them to!? His breathing was unsteady, but fast-paced…it had damn near choked him, but he’d still found the strength to run all the way. But it was what he'd had to do...otherwise...he didn't want to think of the consequences.

Just looking at Maggey’s unconscious body in his arms, it made him want to cry. Even though she’d quit the force some time ago, it felt like one of his own was hurt. He hoped he'd never have to face this, especially with someone who looked up to him, someone who he really cared about in return. The two words nobody on the force wanted to hear, shouted over the radio or in the field…officer down, we have an officer down.

He'd never realised how small and light she really was, until he'd scooped her up...and she was as limp now as she was then, like a rag doll. A big guy like him could probably take whatever nasties were in that cloud, but Maggey...she'd been overcome within seconds. If only he'd had a little more courage, to hold her hand in his, maybe he wouldn't have lost her amidst the fog.

He had no way of telling how badly hurt she might be, but he knew he had to get her to the hospital. Even if he used his radio, an ambulance would take too long.

Swearing loudly, Gumshoe finally jammed his keys into the lock. He flung open the door, laying Maggey down on the back seats, and scrambled into the driver's seat. Starting the engine, he got ready to drive like he’d only done once before...

“Detective…”

The man looked behind him quickly. Although her voice was strained, and her arm, reaching out, looked weak and shaky…she was awake. She was alive. Taking her delicate hand in his clumsy, calloused paw, that was all that mattered.

“It’ll be okay...I’m gonna get you some help, pal…”

Gently, Maggey squeezed his hand, a faint smile on her lips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ugh…” Phoenix murmured…drinking his coffee too fast had brought on another small coughing fit. At least, though it had taken several cups, the disgusting taste in his mouth and the burning in his throat seemed to have gone. Maya was still rinsing her own mouth with water - he could still hear her in the bathroom. It calmed the worried feeling at the back of his mind, if only a little. Mere minutes ago, her coughing had been so violent, she’d run in there to be sick.

“…no harmful effects aside from respiratory irritation, but the emergency services are advising…” He looked up. The TV was still on from before, the Saturday morning cartoons replaced by a female announcer at a desk. Whatever had just happened, it made sense there’d be a newsflash about it. Now comfortable in the spare wooden chair, and reluctant to move, Nick leaned on the back of it as he faced the screen.

“…unknown why the Police haven’t yet determined the source of the explosion.” The woman was about to take another breath, when her hand, with its elegantly manicured and painted fingernails, went to her ear. The look on her face was one of shock as she mouthed something like ‘are you sure’.

The lawyer gripped the hard surface, gritting his teeth, every muscle in his body tensing at once. He felt pretty much okay, and Maya seemed to be recovering. But who knew what that stuff could have done to the both of them, that they might not see or feel right away?

“…I do apologise.” The announcer said quickly, as if she'd suddenly realised they were still live and on the air. “We’ve just got word of a security breach at Lockeforge Minimum Security Facility…”

Phoenix relaxed, but only a little. They were safe, from the look of things, but it figured the Police would try to hide bad news behind a façade of jargon. From what he could tell, the English translation was a jailbreak, at a prison just outside the city limits.

“The current severity of the situation is unknown, but the Police have advised citizens not to panic, and remain indoors as a precaution.”

Lockeforge Prison Complex handled varying levels of security in its different buildings, from Minimal to a handful of Supermax cells. If they were advising people to stay indoors, when it should only be low-risk criminals escaping…

[…Then how much of that is really the truth?]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“That was quite the feat, Welly! I didn’t know you had it in you!”

Gant was smiling again, pulling at his jumpsuit collar habitually, in absence of the necktie he'd worn as a free man. Resisting the urge to clap, while out here, was paramount. In a dark alley, crouching just behind a dumpster may work in the movies, but in reality it was a far from perfect hiding place. And there wasn’t just the police and the guards to contend with, but some of the inmates…! It put what his prison buddy did to shame!

“…I wish I didn’t have it in me, Mr. Gant.”

Being thrown in prison had quashed Wellington’s spoiled brat attitude almost as soon as the cell door had slammed shut. And with his mask of arrogance stripped away, what remained was quiet, withdrawn…and downright cowardly. Prison had been safe, at least...but now he was out here, and with Max-Security inmates running loose, he didn’t want to be alone. Even if not being alone meant being with Gant, of all people.

He petted the grey scarf looped around his neck, and a small wave ran through the material in response. The end drooping down past his shoulder wrapped lightly around his other hand’s fingers, and a sound somewhat like a purr reached his ear. Richard smiled sadly at the gesture of affection.

“First a drifter and con artist, then a murderer, and now a freak…I don’t think I can sink much lower.”

“…Well…‘freak’ is a little extreme, I think, Welly m’boy.” The man said, his rose-tinted glasses sliding down just a little. Richard shrank back slightly, the scarf wrapping around his neck. Maybe he’d never looked at Gant this close up before, but there was a sudden, unmistakable hint of malice about him. It penetrated everything, from his glittering green eyes and his predatory smirk, to the way he held his posture even when crouching down.

“Some of the…freaks…might get a little upset, don’t you think…? I mean, we don’t want to make any more enemies, do we?” Even his tone of voice had gained a certain edge to it. Every word, even every pause, was a thinly veiled threat.

“N-no…Mr. Gant, sir…”

Gant pushed his glasses up with one finger, and adjusted his collar again, smirking to himself. Ever since he'd laid eyes on him, he knew Wellington was pathetically spineless. All it took was a single glance down his nose, a few choice words, and the boy was cowering at his feet, ready to lick his boots at a moment’s notice.

“Good boy. Now, let’s you and I have a little heart-to-heart…”

A man always did feel more confident, with a weapon in the palm of his hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I can’t believe this is happening…” Phoenix muttered, running his hair through his spikes. The shattered concrete and smoking craters on the news were always half a world away. In some distant country, in a war-torn city with an unpronounceable name.

But this was right in his backyard…his city, his home, had been turned into this war zone. The shot showed, in the background, what used to be a large storage shed or warehouse of some kind…almost completely destroyed by a massive explosion. And through the gaping hole in the concrete, there were workers in bright yellow HAZMAT suits, picking through the debris. If the fog had no significant effect on people, then why were they dressed like that!?

“This is as close to the scene of the explosion as we’ve been allowed to get…” a flustered reporter finally spoke up, a bar at the bottom of the screen introducing him as John Jackson. Looking at his flushed face, he’d either been running, arguing with the clean-up crew, or both. “There are still dangerous fumes from other spilled chemicals in the area…officials have assured us, however, these did not become airborne...” the man took another deep breath, running a hand through his short brown hair.

“There were, however, three people found at the scene…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“…but they are currently confirmed as being in a stable condition. And now, back to Jack Johnson in the newsroom.”

“…Utter drivel…” Edgeworth muttered to himself, flicking the television off from his hospital bed. He had been glad to get the ‘all clear’, and to hear the same for Meekins and Miss. Skye, of course. It was just the getting to that verdict which had vexed…no, humiliated him so.

Firstly, he’d been hosed down, like a dog, with a sickly sweet-smelling foam…another chemical cocktail. Next, he’d been forced to take off his contaminated clothes…no doubt for disposal, and custom-fitted magenta suits didn’t grow on trees. Then, he’d been made to wear a flimsy, backless hospital gown - much to the amusement of the female staff, it appeared - and endure a battery of tests from curious doctors.

So, after being squeezed, poked, stuck with needles and asked to say ‘ahh’ far too many times, the prosecutor was understandably in a rotten mood. The phrase ‘insult to injury’ had never rung more true.

He leant back against his pillow, sighing. [I hope those two were completely ‘out of it’…] A faint smile followed. [The Police Department would probably try to force another blasted trophy on me, if they found out. As if the first time wasn’t bad enough.]

And besides, he had work at the office that needed attention. Nothing was going to get between him and finishing it...and then, perhaps later, one of the fine Belgian chocolates he kept in his desk drawer. It had been a hard day. He’d see if there were any strawberry creams left.

Looking towards the door, the prosecutor didn’t just feel tempted to discharge himself. Once a doctor or nurse came in to check on him, he’d insist on it. Medical law, including patient’s rights, was second-nature to him. The only things stopping him from jumping up and marching down the hallway right then and there were his clothes, or the lack thereof.

Normally, he was a patient man. But it bothered him. There was a bee in his proverbial bonnet that was making him restless, and he’d felt that way since he’d arrived. Every little sound seemed more noticeable…not louder, but more like the times he’d skim through a law book, and the information he needed would jump out. But it was happening all the time.

And then there were colours, shapes, numbers, patterns, faces. Like the falling barrel, it was as if time itself had slowed just for him, giving him time to drink in every detail. And somehow, until a nurse was taking a blood sample, he’d barely noticed what he was doing. He'd got to several hundred individual dots on the ceiling tiles, before the needle went in mere seconds later.

Edgeworth shook his head dismissively. It was probably the last scraps of his adrenaline rush. The accident at the warehouse, combined with being treated...albeit somewhat against his will...was making him jumpy. That was all. And he wasn’t exactly afraid of needles, but he wasn’t too fond of them, either. He leaned back against his pillows and closed his eyes. A nurse should be arriving any time.

“Doctor, be careful!!”

His ears pricked…a loud crash, but quite distant. About five...no, six doors down the hallway, just around the corner. It must have been a trolley carrying equipment, plastic and metal clattering as it hit the floor…and more voices, shouting.

“Calm down, calm down!!! Sir, you have to stay calm-!”

Smack, thud. The prosecutor’s eyes opened. That was the sound of a punch connecting, and that person who just hit the ground was probably the doctor. He could hear rapid footsteps drawing nearer...the aggressor was running down the hallway, and his door was open…

“Stop him, now!! He could attack one of the patients!!”

He sat up. Time seemed to slow to a crawl again as his door was kicked in, revealing an unknown figure, a doctor’s white coat draped over their shoulders and face. They made a quick sweeping motion of their arm, and something sharp was flying towards him-!

SMACK.

“Ungh-!”

The man went down like a ton of bricks, and his disguise suddenly made a lot of sense as it fell away. All over, sticking out of his skin, were purple, crystal-like spikes. Some, like on his face, were short and curved like rose thorns, whereas the ones on his forearms formed lethal scimitar blades.

But Edgeworth found himself staring at his own hands, more than anything, as security quickly dragged the disfigured man away. Somehow, he, a prosecuting attorney, had plucked a projectile out of the air, just inches from his face. He’d thrown it right back, side on, and without hesitation. And he's hit his attacker squarely in the forehead for a perfect, one-hit knockout.

But…how!?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This…this can’t be true!”

A certain defence attorney was still glued to the television, looking like he was trying to strangle the back of his chair. Phoenix’s grip on it was so tight, his knuckles were turning white, and for a good reason. “The Police say they can't issue a list of escapees at this time...many inmates were injured during the ensuing riot, which is making it difficult to keep track…”

And then there was that report from before...that, in fact, all security levels had been breached. Phoenix felt betrayed, like they really had lied. But then again, with the confusion caused by the Big Bang (as the sensationalist media was so creatively calling it) maybe they just didn’t know right away. But…even the Supermax cells? Home to the worst of the worst, with solid steel walls, and state-of-the-art locks that would put Fort Knox to shame. Prisoners had escaped from there?

He just couldn’t believe it…it made his normally cool temper flare, thinking of all the hard work attorneys had done, putting those criminals behind bars. Maybe even some of his hard work…being on death row could take months or even years to process. And he knew some of the murderers he'd put away had got life sentences instead, because of age or circumstances.

Just the thought of all those criminals…those murderers, back on the street made his blood climb to boiling point. Where was the justice in this!? It just wasn’t fair…to their victims, their victim’s families…not to mention the civilians they’d been unleashed upon. The anger burned inside him, but he felt so useless, taking it out on the back of a chair. He couldn’t take this, but what could he do!?

“AAAAAAAAAAGH!!!

Nick’s yell changed pitch as suddenly his feelings switched from anger to fear. The back of his chair had suddenly burst into flames, blue flames, flaring up towards the ceiling. There was no time to wonder whether it was spontaneous combustion or what, he just had to put it out before it spread! Quickly, the lawyer grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall, and at the same time, his assistant finally emerged from the bathroom…but what was that!?

“EEEK!! FIRE!!!”

He saw Maya’s expression turn to horror, through the violet-tinted, glowing thing, which almost seemed to be attached to her, somehow. Slamming into him, it grabbed hold like a giant hand, forcing the air from his lungs…and sent him flying into the glass behind.

The window shattered on impact, and the crushing force released its captive into open air.

“NICK!!!”

Phoenix wasn’t sure how long he’d been falling when he heard her voice. The wind streaking through his spiked hair, he thought he’d already let himself go, just giving in to the inevitable.

His body already felt strange…lightweight, and somehow extended, like he had feeling where he didn’t before…

…Was this…what it was like, dying...? He’d never asked Mia about it…while he’d been alive…

“NICK!!!”

“Huh…?” Phoenix was suddenly aware he had solid ground against his back…his eyes flicked open to see the office ceiling, and he blinked slowly. He remembered falling...but was that just a nightmare or hallucination, caused by the fog? And there was a vague awareness that his muscles were aching…but he couldn’t tell which ones…

Maya immediately grabbed him in a hug, her face streaked with tears. That would never fail to wake him up. “Nick, you’re okay!! I mean, you’re better than okay!! I mean…!!”

Maybe he had been passed out. Even before the bear-hug, his back already felt weird. Sort of painful and knotted, like he’d been sleeping in an odd position. And yet he couldn’t find the strength to detach his assistant…he was exhausted, but from doing what? Lawyering wasn't usually a physically demanding job.

“I mean…I don’t know if I wished too hard or something, but wow…” Finally letting go, the spirit medium sat, her hands covering her mouth, as she watched him sit up slowly. Nick just looked back in confusion. The look on her face, it was like she was watching some rare and beautiful flower opening for the first time.

"I know you were worried about me, Maya...but I'm fine, really." He reached back to crack his aching spine into place…and his eyes went wide. His hand touched something, and that something definitely shouldn’t have been there.

“W-wh-what in the hell-!?” was all he managed to get out, as he scooted back across the floor, trying to get away from the alien thing invading his field of vision. There was an unmoveable lump in his throat, stopping him from saying anything more...when he moved, it moved...they moved. And the more he tried to speak, the more the shock constricted, strangling his words like a noose around his neck.

Last time he’d felt like this was when Mia had re-appeared, in Maya's body; the room had started to spin, and he’d blacked out. But the awe that accompanied it this time was keeping him right here. Here, where new nerves moved muscles that hadn’t even existed that morning, but which now ached from strenuous use.

He wasn't sure how he did it, but he moved one, to get a closer look. Each feather, from short, fluffy down to long, elegant flight feathers, looked like it had been spun from strands of glass. Not just the feathers, but the whole of each wing appeared completely translucent...coloured a blue just a little deeper than sky, matching his eyes. Wings...he had wings...he could move them, they were his...

Phoenix suddenly found himself in another crushing Maya-hug. “I know, they’re beautiful!! And you can fly, Nick!! You flew right back through the window!”

Nick managed to force his assistant off him this time, trying to straighten things out in his head. He still wasn’t sure if they’d both died, or if he was dreaming or hallucinating. And, though his wings were beautiful... “...Can I make these go away or something…?”

It was all he could think of saying. His assistant looked at him open-mouthed, like he’d just suggested something obscene...like watching the news during the Samurai Power Hour. “Make them go away!? But…they’re fluffy!!

Despite all appearances, it seemed his wings were actually solid. He could feel Maya’s fingers against his soft down feathers, rubbing them like it would somehow prove her point. He wondered how long she'd spent fretting about him, and how long she'd spent giggling over how fluffy they were. But either way, if this was a dream, it was a very vivid one.

“You got lucky, Nick! I got superhero powers, too, but all I can do is this…”

“GYAAAH!!!” He remembered now. The re-appearance of two large hands, formed from a glowing purple energy that now surrounded Maya like an aura...he remembered them well. In fact, he’d shot across the floor to avoid them, his back against the wall, and his feathers standing on end like a cat’s fur. “Th-that was what pushed me out the window!!”

“Yeah…I kinda panicked and it just happened…” Maya lowered her arms dejectedly, the lifelines of energy connecting the shapes to her own hands vanishing. She grinned suddenly. “But hey, if you look at it one way, Nick…I guess I helped you learn to fly!”

[…I can’t believe I’m hearing this…] Nick thought…his eyes were starting to look a lot like Edgeworth’s, on a bad day in court. He ran his hand through his spikes again. [I wake up and I've suddenly grown wings, and Maya...I can’t believe any of this…this is crazy!]

He held his head in his hands. [It’s finally happened, all that deskwork must have finally driven me insane…!]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[…I don’t believe this…]

Edgeworth was understandably annoyed. And though he loathed to admit it...he was scared. He knew there was something wrong with him, and yet those quack doctors still insisted he was perfectly fine. They'd said he was more than fine, that he was one of the healthiest patients they'd seen in a while. It wasn’t normal, having this sensory acuity, this quickness to react, that just wouldn’t leave him. But that unfortunate soul who attacked him…that was as about far from normal as one could get.

The man had been scared. And the medical staff, they were scared, too…what kind of illness would do such bizarre things to the human body? No doubt, like they had with the comatose man, the hospital would silently cover up any further incidents and hide them away. A new disease, that could turn men into monsters, would cause national panic.

The prosecutor pulled back his dark sleeve, to uncover his hand. Just his own, slightly pallid complexion, greeted him. But with the changes inside his head…would he soon end up like that man? And if this had something to do with those chemicals…and he’d been standing in them…did he face a fate even worse?

His stomach turned, and Miles pulled the hood of his sweater down a little further, covering his bangs. The very clothes on his back were gone, burned or taken away for testing. And the shop at the hospital had a very limited selection…with nothing in the way of suits. But a black ‘hoodie’ and shapeless trousers at least fit him, even if he did look like a street urchin.

But, in some way, he was almost thankful for the opportunity to hide his face. Now outside the hospital grounds, he’d be able to continue undisturbed. To get back to his paperwork, to shut out the world and try to forget any of this ever happened. He'd got Meekins and Miss Skye to the fume closet pretty fast...they should get away unscathed...

But the almost predatory awareness still wasn’t going away. The man and woman in front of him…their body language…they were frightened, worried…they were looking for a place to shelter. But shelter from what? He almost regretted turning off the television.

The hospital had been in so much chaos with incoming patients, including guards and convicts from the jailbreak, they’d seemed almost glad to be rid of him. And the streets looked like a ghost town…some drivers had actually abandoned their cars, perhaps in a rush to escape the fog. Or had something else happened, while he was being treated?

Suddenly, the woman screamed, covering her head with her hands, and the man held her close as they escaped into an alleyway, keeping their eyes to the floor. Edgeworth’s eyes, however, immediately went to the source, which was continuing unabashed down the street.

“What in the world…!?”

A flash of blue and purple...but, unmistakably, two humans. Both had been altered in some bizarre way like the spiked man, which let them swoop down from the sky...but that wasn’t the half of it. His sharpened vision picked up some familiar details…and then there was the call of “Sorry!”, caught on the wind…

[…I must be going mad…]

Maybe he was. But madness didn’t stop him pursuing the pair…maybe it even drove him to it. Regardless, he started running, with an almost unnatural quality to his new-found speed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Nick, you have to be more careful! This isn’t like driving, you-SIGN!!!”

Maya’s heart caught in her mouth as her companion almost collided with a large billboard. Instead, he pulled upwards at the last minute, an almost 90-degree turn, and back down the other side like a stunt pilot at an air show. “I told you, Maya, I can handle it! WA-HOOOO!”

It was almost a shame. Seeing Nick splayed like a dead bug on some smarmy supermodel’s giant teeth…funny, but painful. But he was scarily good at flying, showing off even after only a few minutes in the air. Then again, she’d learned how to levitate the glowing purple disc, attached to her feet by that same weird energy, within the same time space. It like she just knew, like she'd been doing it all her life.

Phoenix did a barrel-roll next, just for the hell of it, turning the sprawling cityscape before him upside down. The medium found it hard to believe he’d been dead against the idea of even going outside just a few minutes ago. And now, he was acting like a big kid with the ultimate new toy...if there’d been any more people around, it’d be embarrassing. “I don’t care if this is a dream, this is incredible!”

But Maya was sure this was real...it was that fog that did it. Mysterious fog, weird rays from space, nuclear fallout, or being bitten by some weird science experiment...it was where superpowers came from.

And of course, now they were superheroes, she’d insisted on hiding their identities. Nick had insisted ‘we’re not superheroes, we’re…’ and just trailed off there. Either he’d decided there was no arguing with her, or he was thinking about something else…either way, he'd looked defeated. Their raincoats would do until they could get capes, at least. And she’d managed to find a purple eye-mask from last Halloween, which was quite heroic-looking. “So why do you think there’s nobody around, Nick?”

Phoenix pulled his white face-mask mask down for a moment. It was the same one he wore when he had a cold…not exactly threatening, unless they faced a germophobic villain, Maya thought. But it served its purpose. “I’m thinking it has something to do with that big jail breakout…and there was that fog…” he blinked, glancing towards her. “Maybe they’re connected somehow...”

“I’m not sure, I think-LAMP POST!!”

“GYAH!”

Another near miss by the flying lawyer. Nick wouldn’t normally be this distracted, or this risk-taking…but then again, he still didn't seem convinced this was real. Did he still think he was dreaming, and he was just playing along? She continued anyway. “…That fog stuff…if it did this to us, who knows what it could have done to other people? If it's connected to the jailbreak, we could be facing a whole army of supervillains!”

“Well, hopefully not, because we’re not superhe-”

Suddenly realising his assistant wasn’t at his side, Phoenix got a crash-course in stopping mid-air. His instincts only went so far, it seemed, as he tried to turn around without dropping out of the sky. But it at least gave him time to look at his solid surroundings, rather than the open space ahead.

“NICK! I’m stuck!” Maya shouted from a little way back, hanging upside-down...everything was covered in the long, black fibres she'd got herself tangled in. They were draped from lamp-posts like fly paper, and criss-crossed the street like cables. Some creeping tendrils even seemed to be acting like plants, climbing up the sides of buildings.

“Nngh…why can’t I use my powers!?” his assistant protested, squirming as Phoenix went to free her. Now he was closer, the way she was tied up seemed more deliberate..almost like a person had wrapped it around her. “I can’t move my arms and legs…aggh! It’s only been a few minutes and I already have a weakness!?”

“Well, I hope my weakness isn’t whatever this black stuff is…hold still, Maya, you’re making it worse!” he retorted, wings flapping furiously as he pulled. “Where did all this come from, anyway!?”

The fibres all around them suddenly shifted…like they were alive…punctuated by a sound both high-pitched and nasally.

“Hee hee hee…hee hee…HEE-HEE-HEE-HEEEEE!!!"

Last edited by ExImplode07 on Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:03 pm, edited 44 times in total.
Re: Project KALLISTI - Chapter 1Topic%20Title
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"Battle is my forte!"

Gender: Female

Location: Star Bowl

Rank: Decisive Witness

Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 11:23 pm

Posts: 159

I love the whole thing, as I'm sure I've said earlier. The ending was a nice touch. ["It's only been a few minutes and I ALREADY have a weakness?!" ...only Maya would immediately think that.] The flying was funny too: the dialogue punctuated with things like SIGN! and LAMP-POST~! was hilarious. And now Edgey has to save them! XD From...whoever it is. [dun dun duuuuuunnn.]

Apparently Edgeworth doesn't care about what happened to Meekins or Ema though. XD I'm sure we'll see later though. You guys are brilliant. But I've already told you two that, right? X3
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Re: Project KALLISTI - Chapter 1Topic%20Title
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Is he doing JAZZ HANDS at the camera!?

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Thanks Sakuro! Edgey doesn't care because he's an insensitive prick. >P lol, he does care really...XD But I guess it's hard to concentrate on others when you're scared of your own animal instincts, and convinced you're going to mutate into something horrible. Yeah. We shall come back to the others later. :3
~Avatar by Sakuro & Endless Blasphemy~NEW Banner by jesidres~
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Image Project Kallisti - PW SUPERHERO AU - UPDATED 1/11Image
Re: The Kallisti Project - Arc Zero - Chapter 1Topic%20Title
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Slightly Disheveled Radiator

Gender: None specified

Location: In a box on a hill towards the west banks of an unknown river.

Rank: Medium-in-training

Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 6:27 pm

Posts: 571

Due to necessity this is now officially...

**FAN SECTION**
(hot darn, we have a fan section. that's pretty sweet.)
(for first time readers these pics may have spoilers for this story, if you're that concerned. just throwing that out there so I CANNOT BE BLAMED >D yay legal disclaimers.)
----------------------------------------

Fanarts - in (vague) chronological order!

Ajerben -
Spoiler: The Blue Phoenix
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Spoiler: The Mysterious Mystic M
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Spoiler: Fight at the Museum
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Sakuro -
Spoiler: Mystic M~!
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Spoiler: Broken Edge~!
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Rii -
Spoiler: Mystic M Concept Art
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Spoiler: Desiree's Concept Art
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Shion -
Spoiler: Broken Edge with glasses!
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Endless Blasphemy -
Spoiler: It's...kinda big >>
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Spoiler: Blue Phoenix avatar edit
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Spoiler: Broken Edge avatar edit
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Spoiler: Mystic M avatar edit
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ThePCD -
Spoiler: Broken Edge
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Spoiler: Oh snap Matts
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Spoiler: Gumshoe Comic
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aki-bara
Spoiler: Blue Phoenix! He's a happy one..
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Or click here!
Spoiler: This time with text!
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Or click here!
Spoiler: Now, a comic!
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Or click here!
Spoiler: Edgey... SHOCKED!
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oR CLICK HERE![/quote]
Spoiler: blue phoenix
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Or click here
Sh1n1 ZE FIER -
Spoiler: Engardesaurus = final evolution
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Spoiler: Engardesaurus final evolution 2
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Spoiler: WHOOOP GUMSHOE
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Spoiler: Because no one ever draws anyone like him...
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Spoiler: Ai ai ai, Where's my Samurai~
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Yes, this was drawn to the song "Butterfly."

Spoiler: This was actually a present for Plode
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Because she put the idea in my head. X3 She admitted that they have some cutsey moments, like in Chapter 8... When they were hugging. X3333 Just cute! I love them!

Spoiler: Broken Edge's other power?
ImageEditor's note: Lol, just wanted to warn any haven't-read-the-story-yet readers that this isn't actually Broken Edge's power, sorry to disappoint (I know, we should have thought of it first).

Spoiler: Wait, people actually draw Payne?
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The Sezza -
Spoiler: Mini-art
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jesidres -
Spoiler: The Blue Phoenix
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Spoiler: Mid-Fight Snack
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Spoiler: Mystic M
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Spoiler: Blue Phoenix and Maya after one two many close calls...
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Spoiler: Broken Edge tries to train Blue Phoenix...with mixed results....
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Spoiler: What happens when Project Kallisti is seized by pairing fans...
Editor's Disclaimer: This is all crack.
But hilarious crack. Image

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Spoiler: Adult Mystic M
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Spoiler: *Kallisti Spoiler* Don Icy
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Haibara~n
Spoiler: Is...Is he doing JAZZ HANDS?!
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Spoiler: White Heart
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Psyche Lock
Spoiler: Mystic M fansprite
http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/6379/mystemystimid5.png

Sactria
Spoiler: Face it with Magatama!
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Yep, it's here! Unfortunately, it's only a rough lineart. But this depicts the the confronting Matty's secrets scene. And the glow is the purty Magatama. :magatama-spin:


----------------------------------------

Fanfiction links in vague chronological order!

Sh1n1 ZE FIER -

Spoiler: Why I Don't Belong in PK
http://sh1n1d4m1.deviantart.com/ <- it's in Sh1n1's gallery. Deviantart doesn't allow direct links.


jesidres -
Spoiler: And then I prove why I stick to art... a brief interlude and analysis from a bar in New York...
*Editor's Note: Jesidres also drew some of her characters for our inquisitive bantering over wanting to know who they are. Image*

(This came out of a line from the first arc... Nick asked himself 'Where are the real superheroes to deal with this'...and then I wondered... I know where....)

The tv was on in a place somewhere between the Lower East Side of Manhattan and the nearest pocket dimension- a place that those who knew of it simply called "The Bar."

A tall powerful looking man standing behind the bar, turned to his companion as images of the Big Bang incident replayed. "What's your take on what happened, Mr. I-know-everything? It's not...our business, is it?"

A single green eye met the two blue ones. "I'll ignore that jab, James, for now. But it looks like a collusion of chemicals combined to cause that cloud, which set off the chain reactions that cause powers in the population. Whether it's our business, however, remains to be seen."

The newscaster continued on about local scientist trying to study the mutation process. "So it's just a mutation process?"

"No, they're sparks, I'm sure of it." The woman who joined them played with a bead strung through her black hair. "There is no doubt about it. That Purple Cloud activated any particularly strong spark it came across... Like what happens here, but one hundred fold. After all, if it was a mutation, it'd all be the same symptoms. There's too much variation. And it didn't even come close to affecting everyone it touched. I'd stake my title of Witch of New York on it."

James growled as watched the display of the remains of the prison. "So it is our problem. Wonderful- New York is bad enough with the rogue sparks, and now we have to deal with entire city more of them?"

The witch turned the other man. "Falair knows Contract code better than I do, but we can't enter until we're asked. So for now, the Shadow Wolf can stick to the skyscrapers of Manhattan." She looked to the TV, which was now showing the latest hero group to hit the streets- Team Phoenix. "And it looks like there are some folks there who are picking up the slack."

Falair nodded, then looked to the view screen on his cybernetic arm. "Although, it may be in our best interest to have some footing there in advance. The county is looking for more prosecutors...Although, jeez, talk about a bad track record...According to this, if I did join, I'd be accused of murder, dead, or be found working on the next doomsday device within 3 months."

James looked at his brother in law in disbelief. "You? Prosecute? You really do have too many degrees. I'm going to seriously start calling you 'Smarty pants' on the field...ACK!" He was stopped as the Witch ruffled his long black hair, loosening it from its ponytail. "What? It's easier to remember than Clockwork."

Falair's one good eye scowled. "I never agreed to that name either, remember? And you wonder why I stick to the lab..."

"I thought it was so you can build another doomsday device-"

"I hate you."

">Quiet!<" Both men shut their mouths and turned back to the Witch, the symbol at her throat glowing. "Let's keep an eye on things and see about opening a door to the Bar there. James, you will stop calling Falair names or you're sleeping on the couch, AND I'll tell Nat it's your fault the metal girders in the garage are bent. Falair, you will stop antagonizing my husband or I'm getting Sean a LOUD toy trumpet tomorrow, and telling Mela you left him alone with the super collider yesterday. Clear?" Both men nodded, fright in their eyes. "Good. >You may speak now.<"

"Voice of the Gods, Jess? That's just... evil." She turned back to the door, her hand miming speech, and clearly not caring what the Bartender had to say. "Well, I'm screwed. But really...why the prosecutor's office?"

Falair hit the remote and rewound to a close up of one of the superheroes. "There's a perception filter on him, so most people wouldn't recognize him, but I recognized the hair- he's a up and coming lawyer that we were actually investigating a while back.

So I think it's time the Contract made a visit to Phoenix Wright."

Falair fiddled with his blond cowlick a little. "Well, that and the entire court house is actually a steam driven chaos engine that could destroy the world. But that's just a bonus."

----------------------------------------
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Created by Vickinator, the greatest person EVER.
~ Crying in Public ~ The Kallisti Project: Samurai Arc

Married to Sakuro*And Eximplode07


Last edited by MercuryKitten on Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:19 pm, edited 14 times in total.
Re: The Kallisti Project - Arc Zero - Chapter 1Topic%20Title
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Possibly Insane

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Why do I have the feeling Meekins' powers have to do with his megaphone? :meekins:

Great fic, I'll definately read more chapters! :D Edgeworth in a hoodie and the barrel roll were nice touches
Re: Phoenix HEROES: The Kallisti Project - Arc Zero - Chapter 1Topic%20Title
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What the heck is a "Blassy?"

Gender: Female

Location: Under the awesome.

Rank: Suspect

Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 12:25 am

Posts: 40

BLASPHEMY!


Meekin's powers will be *spoiler*

Actually, I have no clue.

None. at all.

I had a barrel roll joke, but I forgot what. Maybe it was a banjo joke. ANYWAY....

But, yeah, even though I'm spoiled beyond belief (blame my sister!) I still have a appreciation for the beauty of this chapter one. It's well written, well thought out, and it makes me want to draw fanart. (Which I did the day after reading it << >>)
So yeah. Go job. Hope to see chapter two soon! :pearl:
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Sig by Sakuro
Re: Phoenix HEROES: The Kallisti Project - Arc Zero - Chapter 1Topic%20Title

resident lurker

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Edgey has the healing touch! :stiles:
And who was the spiky guy? Hotti?
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Re: Phoenix HEROES: The Kallisti Project - Arc Zero - ChapteTopic%20Title
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Is he doing JAZZ HANDS at the camera!?

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Healing touch? Haha, close but no cigar. XD And spiky guy was some poor, unfortunate, anonymous person...what am I bet that with those arm-blades, he gets a new career as a sushi chef? X3 lol And Hotti with superpowers is a scary thought...he'd probably have six arms to grope you to death with or something. o_O
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I like your story though I worry that Phoenix will not have very strong super powers and that he will become like Bird Man(bad example I know) or Angel(before he was Archangel) in that respect. Maybe he will have the power to come back from the dead like a real Phoenix?

Are you going to do a ranking power chart so we know how powerful each PW character is like Marvel uses to compare their heros and villans with? I don't know the actual name of the system for it though sorry. :sadshoe:

As for Miles having a Healing Touch ExImplode07 I know you said that isn't what his power isn't going to be so is it going to be along the lines of the Flash powers? Though he hasn't demonstrated super speed as in running yet I could be barking up the wrong tree.

Have you ever read "The Miracle" fan fiction on the PW kink meme? Miles Edgeworth does have a super power that keeps him alive even when he is severely damaged sort of like a Healing Touch function in that respect the writing. Here is the link to it below.

http://teagueful.livejournal.com/8191.h ... 5#t1127935


Looking forward to your next chapter I'm dying to know what :damon: power is now! Also for some reason I can't get it out of my mind that :maya: might have The Ghost Rider's powers as a Secondary Mutation maybe she would even use the Penance Stare on some bad guy. :beef:

I have to wonder if her spirit medium talents have a weird side effect or extra abilities now since she has super powers.
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PW + superpowers = Win
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Wow, 2 comments at once! XD lol, Thanks very much ajerben, and best of luck on what you're doing for the musical. I don't have the talent to really contribute, but anybody who's working on it, I'm rooting for you!

Shion...wow, that's quite a comment. ^^ I see someone's a big marvel fan, heheh. I'll try and answer your questions as spoiler-free as possible. Phoenix...well, even though he might seem a little...inept, mostly he's just learning. He gets better at it, I swear, he just needs practice and a little self-confidence. XD I can't say exactly what we have planned for everyone else, but the three of us are hoping the results will be both balanced and entertaining.

If we do a power chart, it'll be later, to help out people who're 'just coming in' to the fanfic. Even then I'm not sure how we'd rate them...powers vary pretty wildly, so it might be just a list.

Miles...well, you'll see more of his powers next chapter. The whole 'time slowing down' thing, which I suppose does need clearing up, IS kind of like the healing touch. It's enhanced concentration - to him, it's as if he as more time to strategize, judge distances and movements and so on, when really he's just thinking a lot faster. If it helps, I might put a list of current heroes/villains at the top with their powers as they appear.

Thanks for the link to that fic...it's certainly interesting. He's like Wolverine, lol, kinda strange, though. The kink meme has generated some entertaining things. ^^

And Maya...well, you're partly right, not all of her abilities have been revealed yet. They will be, soon! And secondary mutations...well, we'll see, shall we? XD I'm not saying you're right or wrong, you'll just have to wait for more chapters. ^^
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Now you've got me thinking about Edgeworth as Gray Fox, from MGS (He had something like greatly improved synapse speed thing, so he could literally think, react and move twice as fast as the average human due to his brain being able to process things that much quicker), which kind of works in the 'manly-bonding-with-main-chracter' way.

Your writing style is really effective for this style of piece; you're very good at action and fast-moving plots (at the slight loss of extended detail or descriptions), as well as showing certain characters' mindsets through another's point of view. At first, I was kind of worried that this was going to become a god-mod for all, but no-one seems to be able to exploding worlds by blinking, yet, so I really can't wait for more. Maya is perfect for something this silly; she knows exactly what to do XD

Just as a side question, how big are Phoenix's wings? Are they absolutely huge to cope with his human weight, or have his bones hollowed out like a bird's, so that they don't have to be 20 feet long just to let him get some airtime?

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Wow. Comments. O.o We're so loved. <3
Well I know Plode is answering the one above me as we speak in more detail, but thank you for the well-thought out comment! We really live on these, it gives us almost a rush, which encourages us to write more. If no one liked it, we'd probably lose interest! So thank you guys so much for this, it's wonderful to see all our hard work appreciated.
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I've never actually played MGS...but yeah, that sounds spot on for what Edgeworth has. ^^ It means he can read people a lot better, too, but Phoenix tends to wear his heart on his sleeve, and his emotions all over his face. XD You never know, though, it may come in useful sometime.

And thankyou for the compliment! :bellboy: I can't take 100% of the credit, thought, since I've adjusted my writing style to be a little closer to MercuryKitten's. I'm not copying her style completely, but if you compare this fic to, say, Turnabout in Wonderland, I think the styles woudl be quite different. Mercs, if you're reading this, I blame that hilarious (and very well-written) oneshot you were working on. You know the one. XD

Trust me, though, this is NOT a god-mod thing. ^^ The three of us (Sakuro - I haven't forgotten you!) have come up with definite weaknesses for each character as well as strengths. They're either based on the nature of their powers or the nature of the character themselves, though some heroes/villains are of course stronger than others. We'll see what happens, won't we? XD

Ahh, for the golden age of comics, where a man could fly without a lengthy description of physics. X3 lol, Seriously, Phoenix's wings...well, based on a one-liner in the next story Arc, I think Mercs said his wingspan was about 8 feet. I'm kinda crappy at estimating distance, since I've had pretty bad eyesight most of my life, but it seems about right to me.

Hollow bones...now that I think about it, I suppose maybe that has happened to an extent, but Phoenix's wings are a bit weird. The reason they're transparent is they're made of a similar stuff to Maya's 'energy hands', so that would help get him off the ground as well. And yet, in other ways, they're quite organic or living in nature, in that they can feel pain, and have other 'living' features we'll see later.

Thanks for the comments, everybody! XD
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Surprisingly good!!
Reading this made me feel just slightly embarrassed for the fic I posted last night. >_> I guess I have a lot to work on for my next installment!

I was really excited to see Gant and Wellington involved, as well as Meekins. I don't see them very often in fanworks...

Eagerly awaiting the next chapter. :D But you guys take your time. I'm sure that, however long it takes for you to write it, it'll be fantastic.
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I just read your fic, Rii. :3 I figured if you write halfway good as you draw (Just looked at your 'gender bending' thread - seriously, WOW. Francis and Mme. Godot made Sexyback start playing in my head XD) then I'd like it -and I did! It's good - original court cases can be very hard work (I should know...TiW's case makes Plodey go aieee), so don't be embarrassed. ^^

In this fic we're going to involve a LOT of characters, probably a lot of whom people won't be expecting (we hope). XD But yeah. Chapter 2 is about halfway done so far, so look forward to it in a few days!
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Re: Phoenix HEROES: The Kallisti Project - Arc Zero - Chapter 1Topic%20Title
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It sounds like you got a lot of the main characters powers fleshed out ExImplode07 the way you describe Phoenix's wings as being self sentient reminds me of Archangel's metal wings they were like that too except they could shoot metal paralyzing blades at opponents also the wings were uncontrollable,aggressive, and had the tendency to act on their own if that makes any sense. :eh?:

The other thing I forgot to mention is the Magatama that Phoenix always carries around with him is there any chance that the purple mist could have affected his link with that item? Maybe some of it's "spiritual power" bled into Nick and will now give him the ability to see locks around people when they have a secret as a permanent effect. :franny:

For some reason when I think of the purple mist/explosion I imagine a mini mushroom cloud like you get from a Nuke going off and enveloping the city in a purple toxic fall out but maybe that is just me.

As for character having different powers I came up with a few but the people are from the AA3 time line I don't think you mentioned which game this takes place in so I'm going to assume it's after GS3 so I'll put my thoughts in spoiler tags. If you might have an idea of what you want to do with other characters power wise I will expect that some of these will be shot down.

AA3 CHARACTER SPOILERS

Spoiler:
Image Spider Woman!(Yes there was one.) I really see Ema as a female Parker without the humor of course. She would definitely get a big increase of Intelligence due the toxic mist sort of like Spider Man, Dr. Oct, and The Beast. It be interesting to see where you go with her.

:meekins: I imagine him with the Banshee's powers of course I can see him using his loud speaker to knock down people around him not on purpose though.

:maggy: I remember her quote at the end of AA2 her saying that she was an "unlucky goddess" and that her goal was to one day be only a unlucky person. I thought it would be ironic if she got powers similar to the Scarlet Witch's and Long Shot(I think) they had the power to influence events that would make them come out on top in the long run in short they had 'luck' powers.

Maggy Bird would have that ability except in reverse she would have the worst luck and her power would have a scatter effect and make things around her ten times worse sort of how Ranma Saotome is like an Avatar of Chaos, Maggy would be an Avatar of Bad Luck incarnate. After all Maggey Bird is unlucky in life so it should it be appropriate that she be unlucky in the super power category too.

:zenitora: I see him being like Sabretooth actually I think it will fit his character personality wise and even better if he has a grudge with Phoenix he did say that he would be sorry that he ever dragged him into court. Throw Godot in there as a target of his hatred too.

:godot: If this is after the events or during GS3 then Godot technically should be in the city or in jail to get exposed to the Toxins I can't really think of a good power and I really don't want to make him a knockoff Cyclops. He reminds me of Gambit's personality with a bit of Wolverine's thrown in without his berserk tendencies.

:keiko: She could be like the Colossus with the ability to transform her body into "organic steel." However I always wanted to use the explanation that the artists Daft Punk came up with when asked why they wear robot suits as a super power origin. They said that there was an explosion one day at their recording studio and they passed out when they woke up they were robots.

Lisa could have passed out and woke up later as a robot/Colossus it's just an idea that I thought would be cool. It also a shame that Glen Elg is dead he looks like a character that would be fun to write.

Image Dare Devil there is no doubt about it. I can see her doing his tricks excitement is what she thrives on so I imagine she would have powers similar to his.

:yuusaku: The Purple Mist is certainly a strange substance giving life to a scarf and making a man sprout wings from his back what if it had an adverse effect on the foam and plastic latex costume that Ron wears maybe it bonds to his skin and now he can't take it off. What if the suit was self sentient like Richard's scarf? Imagines a Mask*DeMasque symbiote creature like Venom. :beef:


Well that was some of the powers that I was thinking of I know that you most likely don't want to create clone versions of Marvel Heroes/Villains abilities and transplant them onto PW characters. I haven't read a Marvel/DC comic book in years so I try to do my research and it my be error prone since I get it off of Wikipedia. :payne:

I'm looking forward to your next chapter it would be cool if you decided to include Luke Atmey in somewhere. :edgy:
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Ha~ Thanks your the comment, Shion, if just because it saves double-posting. XD It's not just me working on this, Mercs and Sakuro are too, and together we've come up with some really crazy stuff. Just to re-clarify, this fic is set after Phoenix Wright 3, spoilers shall probably come later.

Nick's wings aren't self-sentient, really, just made of a sort of energy - he has control over them. And as for other powers, you'll just have to see what comes up. We're trying not to rip off ANY Marvel or DC characters completely, though they have been an inspiration sometimes...some of these powers are just us and our weird minds. XD

Buuut yeah. Some of your power ideas are hilarious. XD And a few of those characters appear in this chapter, so let's see if you were right~! (We have powers etc. planned out for almost everyone, I think - our 'master list alone' is 14 pages long)

-----------------------------------------

The Kallisti Project - Arc Zero - Chapter 2

“Nick, is that Prosecutor Payne?!

…What could he say, really? Though the man had his back turned to them, it was him, it was Prosecutor Payne. Phoenix would never forget his first day in court, and the sound of that derisive laugh as he made rookie mistake after rookie mistake. Or his relatively easy victory. But now, that laughter had gained a new, maniacal edge, and the prosecutor was pumping his fists to the cheer of an invisible crowd like an ageing rock star.

Winston Payne with hair to spare, long, raven-black, and covering everything...more unlikely things had happened that day. Probably. But whether a side-effect of the Big Bang or a Minoxidil overdose, he seemed to have gone more than slightly mad, re-living his salad days as ‘The Rookie Crusher’. And the hair moved with him, as if it was alive, somehow...giving Phoenix a horrible feeling that the 'crusher' nickname might be taken all-too-literally if he recognised them.

“Hold still, Maya…” he glanced over his shoulder quickly. It appeared luck was on his side, with Payne in the middle of some lengthy monologue about his revenge. Throw in a cape and some shoulder pads, and the formerly pathetic figure would be the perfect stereotypical supervillain.

…And he still couldn’t believe he was even thinking that. But...there was no way any of this was actually real. He must have fallen asleep watching some made-for-tv disaster movie. And since he was dreaming, he may as well play along until he woke up...but with the way this dream was going, he'd be lucky if his waking eyes didn't see a padded room.

Trying to keep himself level with Maya's prison, he stuck out his arms in a gesture Max Galactica would be proud of. “Fire!” …Nothing. The medium cocked an eyebrow at him - she must be thinking the same thing, that those bright blue flames in the office somehow came from him. But if they had, why couldn’t he do it when he actually needed to? “Flames! Bang! Ka-boom! Flame on…?” He tried snapping his fingers. Pointing. Waving his hands. But not even a spark came in return.

“Nick, are you gonna keep joking or get me out of here!?” The black cocoon bounced as his assistant yelled at him, growing more impatient by the second. Phoenix’s frustration was rising, as well…he’d set the chair on fire in the office, he was somehow sure.

But…that made no sense. None of this made any sense! Why couldn’t he just go back to being a normal lawyer, with a not-so-normal assistant? He even missed getting vertigo from being so high up, but it seemed even that had changed…gone within the space of a few minutes, as fast as his wings had appeared. Why couldn’t he just wake up!?

FWOOSH. The black knot recoiled, writhing like the dancing flames, like it actually felt the pain. But more important than hair care was Maya, who let out a shriek as her prison collapsed around her. Without second thoughts, he threw out his arms desperately-!

“UNGH!!” That mostly-cheeseburger must be having some effect, even if it wasn’t visible on the outside. A mat of hair thankfully cushioned their fall, but it seemed Air Phoenix wasn’t ready to carry their first passenger…his wings ached terribly, from being snapped out of the sky…

“Wait…that actually hurt! …I…I’m not dreaming!?” He clutched his head, his mind boggling…but what made things even worse was the sense of déjà vu, like he’d said something very similar once before. It was enough to make his vision blur, the world fading in and out of focus…he hadn’t felt like this since the Engarde case…

“M- My b-b-beautiful hair! Singed!!! It’s all uneven now…it's ruined…this-this is worse than split ends…!” Looking up, Nick was surprised he didn’t drop in a dead faint. Payne, no doubt imbued with freakish strength or some other power, was turning round, his pitch rising to a furious shriek. “Who dares to touch the hair of Winston Payne, the almighty Rookie Crusher!?”

“We do, that’s who, you... villainous Supervillain, you!” She was on her feet, hands on hips, striking a pose she probably thought was heroic. …Not this…not the superhero thing, not now, Maya…!

She scratched her chin as she thought...if only she was thinking of the smart thing, to just run away and leave it to the other type of law professional. “Hm…maybe we should hire a writer or something.” She struck a different kind of heroic pose, once again pulled straight from a comic book. “I’m The Mystical…no! The Mysterious Mystic M! And this is my sidekick, The Blue Phoenix!”

The sheer absurdity of the situation, and his hopeless inability to take all this in, had already rooted ‘The Blue Phoenix’ to the spot. But he still found the strength to mash his palm into his face. She had put way too much thought into this, and yet their ‘secret’ identities were still painfully obvious.

[…And why am I the sidekick!?]

“Hee, hee, hee…” That laugh and forehead-tap he thought he’d never hear or see again. "Your names are of no matter to me! Prepare to suffer the hair-raising consequences of your actions!"

The whole world really had been turned upside-down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry…!” Maggey’s cheeks were flushed, and she was nearly out of breath from apologising so much.

“It’s okay, pal…accidents happen.” Gumshoe smiled and adjusted his icepack. It was at least making the swelling above his eye go down, but being accidentally smacked in the face by a passing workman was bound to leave a shiner. It was weird, that there’d be someone carrying a big plank outside a hospital, but it could’ve been worse.

“I know, but what about that dog that bit your leg!?” she glanced towards the bandage wrapped around the man’s ankle, tears welling up again. He sighed…it hadn’t bled that much. And he’d yelled more from the shock than anything, since he was still reeling from the first blow. “And that was after you tripped over it and got a bloodied nose! Things like that don’t just happen!

After a pause, Maggey seemed to calm down, but also withdraw into herself. Her shoulders slumped as she looked at the floor. “Everything I do, it ends in disaster…if not for me, then for someone else…I bet I even caused that explosion, and that jailbreak, too..!”

She sniffed, gripping the knees of her green cargo pants. Then, she found herself looking up into a kind, smiling face, a rough but gentle hand brushing away a tear in place of a hankie. “…Like I said…accidents happen, Maggey…”

The Detective scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin. And the pink tint in his cheeks grew as the former rookie grabbed him in a hug. She still felt like it was all her fault…she was cursed, or born under an unlucky star, or something. But the big dummy was still nice to a fault, even to a jinx like her.

Gumshoe went to lay a hand on her back, but was it still too early? He’d already embarrassed himself, wiping away her tears like that…that had been stupid. Maybe she was just pretending not to mind, for his sake. If only Mr. Edgeworth was here…even if he said he didn’t understand the ‘frothing female masses’, he probably had more of an idea than him. But he was outside the hospital, a good mile or so away, moving pretty fast, just turning the corner on 5th…

He blinked, suddenly more confused than ever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[I’ll be damned if I know what’s going on…] But he’d be damned to an even lower circle of hell if he wasn’t going to find out. Following the blue streak hadn’t been easy, especially since it kept…showing off. But he had to know, to be sure he wasn’t completely mad.

He just had to know that it wasn’t Wright he’d seen flying past.

And somewhere a little way ahead, unbeknownst to him, the fight between villain and heroes (one of them more than a little reluctant) was taking a turn for the worse. It seemed superpowers only came with the most skeletal of built-in instructions, but The Rookie Crusher appeared to have mastered his already. So, he was living up to his namesake, and doing what he now did best - crushing a pair of rookie heroes.

"You see!? You're in a really hairy situation now, hee hee hee! And once I've dealt with you, nobody in this city will be able to resist my luscious, silken mane! I'll be feared! Respected! And the King of Prosecutors trophy will be mine again!"

"You'll never get any of that if you keep monologuing! And if you're going to go on like that, at least describe your evil plot in detail! I mean, what kind of supervillain are y-MMGH!" Maya's own monologue was cut off abruptly, a lock of hair winding itself around her head like a gag.

Some part of Phoenix almost felt like thanking the prosecutor. But any such ideas were erased from his mind, as the black cocoons they were both wrapped in suddenly grew tighter, squeezing their captives like snakes. His blurring vision was obscured by more hair as he struggled hopelessly. If he tried making flames, he could end up cooking himself alive, and Maya couldn't move her hands and feet again. [Where are the professional superheroes when you need them!?]

But regardless of suspicions, it was fact that things had taken yet another turn for the bizarre. Ahead of him, a somehow familiar scrawny man was standing atop an abandoned car. The chemicals from the explosion had affected his hair so that it enveloped everything - a huge, dark, spider’s web. And, held aloft, by the strength of said hair alone, two struggling bundles...victims!

Edgeworth was by no means a couch potato…partially thanks to the exercise equipment in his apartment, he had shoulders a linebacker would be jealous of, he’d been told. To him, it was more about a balance of body and mind, rather than the pursuit of vanity or some rough-and-tumble sport.

But he felt it, with every slight movement…a powerful precision. To get here he’d run faster, and to start tearing into the black cocoon, with a leap that surprised even himself, he’d definitely grown stronger, too.

And this was no time to be wondering what was happening to him...for the second time today, other people’s lives were in his hands. Outside the courtroom.

“AUGH! Finally! Nothing worse than the smell of failure and Old Spice...” Phoenix stopped, suddenly realising his saviour was awfully familiar. “Edgeworth!?

Wright!!” Even with the spiky-haired lawyer gawking at him, either from his feat of strength, or the way he was dressed, the silence didn’t last long between them. Wright could be an idiot, but he knew when things were deadly serious. Forgetting about his own predicament, he tried to gesture to his left. “He’s got Maya as well, in the other one! I’ll get myself out!”

“You’ll leave my beautiful new hair alone, that’s what you’ll do!!” A disturbance in the swathes of hair, it was so obvious, but he just had to wait… “And it’ll be the last thing you do, too!!” …now! WHAP. The length of hair cracked like a whip, as it slapped against the side of an empty-looking building. As if it wasn't apparent before, this Rookie Crusher had just proved he meant business.

Phoenix focused his rage, and seized the moment in a quick burst of blue flame. Despite it being so close, he barely felt a thing as his restraints turned to ashes. And finally freed, Maya re-generated her energy disc with a “Thanks...uh...mysterious hero!”. Perhaps she'd never considered the possibility of a superhero Edgeworth at all, or she'd been picturing him as some maniacal villain, cackling and looking over a globe.

Meanwhile, her saviour landed with cat-like grace on a rare, uncovered square of blacktop. He couldn’t help but stare at the pair, the former blue and purple streaks, hovering above...and there was the man who he now recognised as Prosecutor Payne. All of them, they were all changed. It must have been the chemical released by the explosion; the Prosecutor’s office, and Wright’s office too, would have been right in its path!

“UNGH-!” Edgeworth cursed himself as the wind was knocked out of him. The hair clump to the stomach hit like a fist, throwing him to one side and leaving him coughing weakly. Of all the times to let his guard down...

Suddenly, something swooped down in front of him. It was Maya, now with two giant hands, attached to her own by glowing energy lifelines. One of them thrust out, blocking another attack from Payne. "Leave him alone, Rookie Crusher! He can't even fly or anything!" Can't even...!? Did he just get put down by a teenager!?

Her ‘sidekick’ was soon quickly but clumsily by the other man’s side, missing his mark and almost tripping over the fibres covering the floor. Apparently, his new instincts apparently didn’t cover landing, either. “Edgeworth, what happened to you? I mean…what are you wearing, for a start?”

Phoenix laughed a little, though his face gave away that he didn’t find much else funny. Edgeworth returned the look, both men fearing for their sanity. What could they do, when everything…sight and sound and even touch, just couldn’t be real? This just shouldn’t be happening, it just couldn’t be.

“GUYS! A little help!?” They looked up in unison. 'Mystic M’ was struggling to fight off a flurry of attacks from her ‘supervillain’. Regardless of how insane all this was, they couldn’t just stand by and pretend this wasn't happening, when someone was still in harm's way.

“Seriously, Wright, what happened to me? What do I look like!?” Edgeworth grabbed a lock of hair mid-strike, running with it. “I’m not the one with ruddy great wings sticking out of my back!” Another quick pull, and the thing was wrapped around a Stop sign in a tight knot.

“Well I wasn’t expecting to see you pull off the ‘moody teenager’ look anytime soon!” Phoenix retorted, now airborne again. Gritting his teeth, his anger sparked and flared, eating into the snare which had held his leg. “And no regular human should jump like in a video game-AAH!”

Sharply angling a wing, he made a quick left turn, to narrowly avoid another blow...his heart was pounding from the heady mixture of fear and exhilaration. “That purple smog got you, too, didn’t it?”

"Wright, you really have no idea-GRRGH!" he finished tying another hair knot...one less to attack them, but the things were everywhere. "-what I've been through today!!"

This was useless...playing chess, you couldn't just keep moving your pieces away, retreating and avoiding confrontation. You needed a good offence, a good strategy. But could they win, when they were still learning how their pieces moved? He looked around, trying to filter out the static noise from his overloading senses...he had to focus, there had to be something they could use...

"Nick, can you stop doing that so much? Urgh, burning hair stinks!" Maya complained, wafting away the smoke with one of her energy hands, the other a fistful of black, writhing like worms.

Phoenix waited before shouting back, pulling some insane (not to mention exhausting) aerobatics to try and get the predatory tendrils off his tail. But it seemed, like heads of a mythical hydra, more would always appear no matter how many he drove away with his fire. "I would if that wasn't the only thing between me and them! GAH-!" he yelped as he was suddenly caught by several of 'them', wrapping around him.

His teeth caught his bottom lip, but everything, even the metallic taste of his own blood, was completely drowned out. He might have screamed, he might have heard someone else scream, but he couldn't tell, he was being torn apart-!

"Wright! Keep doing that – that fire thing! Maya, follow my lead!" It was, perhaps, a good thing Edgeworth's words fell on deaf ears. If Nick had stopped to argue who died and made him group leader, the phrase could end up being a self-fulfilling prophecy. Instead, he was already re-directing the pain, doing the right thing without even realising it, as he so often seemed to do.

"You're going to pay dearly for that!!" Payne's once-victorious laughter turned to angry shrieking. But he couldn't even see his target, let alone get close, the searing heat creating an impassible barrier between the two. For all he knew, the mysterious Blue Phoenix could have been incinerated along with so much of his precious hair.

For now, where were the other two annoyances? He had a prosecutor's office to take over, and still enough hair left to deal with the likes of them. "Prosecutor Payne!" He turned to look, still never moving from his perch atop an abandoned car.

That teenager again, dressed all in black, with one of those 'hoodie' things obscuring his face and hair. No doubt one of the juvenile delinquents he'd put away on some theft or assault charge. Easy enough to deal with... "INCOMING!" ...but what was that!?

Maya, or as she was in her current identity, the Mysterious Mystic M, had a victorious grin on her face as she flew rings around the supervillain. Wrapping him in a parcel of his own hair, she couldn't help herself. "Special delivery for the Rookie Crusher: One butt-kicking! Return address, straight to jail!" Sometimes the hero lines just wrote themselves. And after a much-needed distraction from Nick and Mr. Edgeworth, they even had a comic-book-worthy victory.

If only everyone agreed with her. Phoenix was lying on the ground, amidst the embers of slowly dying flames. His mouth was tainted by the taste of smoke and ashes, and a little of his own blood. Every part of him ached terribly, and not from the bruises and minor scratches from the fight. If he'd ever had a physical workout like this before, it must have been years and years ago.

The next thing he knew, a different prosecutor was standing over him. The look in his eyes was as cold as ever, but he still offered a hand, helping the injured lawyer to his feet. "So...we won? We actually won?"

"As unlikely as it sounds, Wright...we did, in fact, 'win'..." It had been a million-to-one chance. Maybe it was because it was a million-to-one chance, that they'd won. No matter how much he'd changed, no matter what life threw at him...with some help, Phoenix Wright was still master of the turnabout.

A lot less weary and battle-scarred than her companions, Maya hopped off her energy disc and onto solid ground. "You know, Nick, I've been thinking...should I have yelled 'incoming', or 'death from above'? I'll have to write some of these lines down!" She clapped her hands together happily, having lost interest in the supervillain when he stopped ranting. "'Cause, you know, we're superheroes now! And you, Mr. Edgeworth, you'll need a hero name...!"

Though, sometimes, he wondered who it was who really needed the help.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was good to be on active duty again. It was where Mike Meekins knew he belonged. Anything was better than being stuck in that tiny office space, devoid of any creature comforts including windows. But he had to listen to his superiors – after all, he was just a tiny cog in the well-oiled machine of the law. And the words of his superiors were the law.

The doctors and nurses at the hospital practically knew him by name, thanks to his countless accidents and misfortunes. So, when he’d asked, they’d passed on the news about Prosecutor Edgeworth and Miss Skye, who had both checked themselves out a few minutes apart.

That meant they must be fine…though the prospects for his paycheck that month weren’t looking good. He’d have to give another 200% on top of his usual 500, to make up for his mistakes, so he’d got straight back to patrolling the streets. And up ahead…the first step on his long road to forgiveness from the chief! A jaywalker! And – he noticed to his horror, as he approached – a litterer, too! He primed his megaphone.

Unbeknownst to Meekins – perhaps the officer needed his eyes examined – the man was an escaped inmate. A very large, very affected by the Big Bang inmate, heavily muscled and easily pushing 8 feet tall. He threw a banana skin over a shoulder that could kill a man – and perhaps had, in the past – speckled with rust-coloured, diamond shaped scales. The same continued up the back of his neck and part way up his shaved head, adding to his fearsome appearance.

But, of course, that didn’t stop a certain over-enthusiastic cop. “EXCUSE ME SIR!” The megaphone screeched, followed by a low, animalistic growl from the nameless man – he turned around, baring a set of sharp teeth. There was a pause as the pair’s eyes met, as if the Grim Reaper had stopped to sharpen his pencil before he crossed off another name.

“Littering is against the laws of our fair and clean city! In the name of the law, I must kindly request you pick up that peel and turn yourself in, sir!” If anyone else had been around to watch, they would have been shocked to see what happened next. The muscled mutant blinked, a glazed look in his eyes. Slowly and deliberately, he bent down to pick up the remains of his snack…surely, the plucky officer was next on the menu?

But, no – Meekins escaped being a side-dish, and had a look of satisfaction in a job well done. The man gently dropped his litter in a nearby trashcan, and continued in the direction of the Police Station. It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it, he thought, patting his faithful megaphone and resuming his duties.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“AAAAAGH! Aah-!”

“Wright, please try to make less of a fuss…” Edgeworth frowned, sliding an ornate letter-opener along the edge of an unmarked envelope. “People might think there’s a murder in progress.” Considering they were in the Prosecutor’s Office, that didn’t seem likely…but with what had happened that day, and was happening right now

“There will be if Nick’s wings keep hitting me in the face!” Maya said, puffing out her cheeks, a bottle of rubbing alcohol in one hand and some cotton wool in the other. “They may be fluffy, but being slapped by them hurts…” The prosecutor shook his head. Luckily, Wright’s injuries hadn’t been severe enough to warrant a hospital visit. Or a trip to the veterinarian, with those wings of his.

Hopefully, the Police were too pre-occupied with the prison break, among other things, to have spotted the three of them. The list of charges against them would be endless. Damage to public property, damage to private property, reckless endangerment, vigilantism, and even a breach of anti-pollution laws, to name but a few.

“Nngh…” Over on the couch, gripping a carved wooden armrest, Phoenix gritted his teeth. His wings kicked up a small breeze in protest, which blew some papers off the desk. “…I can’t help it if it stings, Maya…and you’d probably be the same…”

Edgeworth didn’t seem to notice the displaced paperwork, though. His eyes scanning the single sheet, his palm suddenly found his face with an exasperated sigh. “…More bad news?” The attorney asked, flopping down as the pain began to subside. He didn’t mean to take advantage of the other man’s hospitality, but he was exhausted. “…It’s nothing. Just something else I’ll have to deal with today.”

“Oh…busy as always, huh? I guess…not even being a superhero can keep you from your work…” Phoenix felt his eyes start to get heavy…he was fighting a losing battle, trying not to fall asleep then and there… “H-hey-!” he protested suddenly, rudely awakened by a shirt and jacket being thrown at his head.

“Get dressed, Wright.” Edgeworth snapped. “I don’t want someone to walk into my office and see you as you are. And I am not a superhero. I’m just a prosecutor…that’s all.”

[As I am? Shirtless? I guess it would be kinda…oh right, yeah, there’s the wings, too.] He looked at the shirt as if it were some alien artefact. He’d been so groggy when he’d come in, he’d taken it off without even thinking. Now, looking closer, he could see two neat razorblade tears in the back of both shirt and jacket - perfect for a pair of wings to fit through. How did that happen?

“He’s got a point, Nick…” his assistant looked worried. She was thinking about something neither of them wanted to consider. “…and…what’re people going to think when they walk into our office? I mean, I think they’re gorgeous, but…” Her words brought back all the worries and fears he’d had. In those few minutes up on the office roof, he’d forgotten all about them.

It was cold, and windy up there. And he felt stupid, covering his face. Even with his raincoat on, his blue suit and spiked hair would be instantly recognisable. His throat dry, he swallowed hard, and tried not to think about how high up they were. It had been so much easier when he was unconscious, unaware of what he was doing.

Now he was awake, he had to take in every little change in wind direction, every obstacle, every thing that could send him plummeting to the ground or crashing into something. But if he didn’t try now...Maya might decide to push him or something. He closed his eyes, and took a run up, concentrating only on what felt right. His wings unfolded, they kept a steady beat as his shoes pounded the concrete roof, and his heart pounded in his ears.

Then he felt his feet leave the ground, and there was just him and the open air, a playground that went on forever. He never wanted to feel so restricted, so heavy as he had been, ever again.

But as incredible as that feeling was…could he still be a lawyer, looking like this? Could he even walk down the street anymore? People would point and stare, maybe even run away, call him a freak or a monster. Closing his eyes for a moment, gripping the shirt fabric, he found himself searching his instincts for answers again. What felt right?

“Nick-!! You-you lost your wings!” Maya spoke up, her mouth hanging open in shock and dismay, as the wings withdrew themselves. It felt weird, to say the least, as they disappeared into his back, leaving no traces they’d ever been there. “Does this mean I’m going to lose my powers too!?”

Phoenix smiled in return, buttoning his shirt…perhaps he’d have to adjust his entire wardrobe now. “I don’t think so. I can still feel them…like they’re there, only they’re not. It’s weird, I know, but it works, right?”

“Hm…” Edgeworth muttered, and not in reply to the rhetorical question. For the past few minutes, he’d been sitting in his chair, gazing out of the large window. His office felt strange and unwelcoming, although he was still unsuitably dressed, for a man of his position. He unlocked a drawer in his desk, and took out a set of car keys. “I need to stop by my apartment and change my clothes. I can drop you both off at your office if you want.”

“Oh…uh…” Phoenix replied, still fumbling with his tie. The prosecutor’s demeanour was as icy as ever, but, in a Miles-sort-of-way, he was at least trying to be kind. He could see it flicker in his eyes, a single candle flame in the midst of a forbidding grey storm. He was worried…about him? “…thanks, Edgeworth. We appreciate it.”

He nodded in response, and the lawyer quietly stepped outside, spirit medium in tow. Something unspoken between the two men said that he needed a minute, just to take care of things. His palm felt cold against the glass, and the street outside was still eerily quiet. Had this been a western movie, a tumbleweed might have blown past.

Instead, the scene settled for a solitary crow. It perched atop a lamp post, turning its head from side to side, its caws muted by the window. And just as quickly as it came, it left again. Edgeworth sighed, reaching into his trouser pocket for his set of office keys, and left the letter on the desk. There was no signature, just letters of all different styles and sizes, cut from various newspapers.

“I kNoW YOUR SeCRet - meet ME nEAR the HoTDog STand IN GoURd LaKe Park AT MiDnight”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay big man, time to put you away.” It was surprising, how…docile the former inmate was, now restrained inside an armoured van.

Whoever had persuaded ‘Car Crusher’ Cardigan, a notorious gang member who disposed of his victims’ bodies in a trash compactor, to turn himself in…he’d hate to meet them in a dark alley. Or indeed, any time in this lifetime. The glazed look still in the convicted murderer’s eyes made it look like he’d been hypnotised, or brainwashed…or something a lot worse.

Skelly sighed, taking off his cap and scratching his dreadlocked head. He didn’t know what to think, but he didn’t want to think about that.

The sun was setting on the weirdest, most chaotic day the city had ever seen. The last time things had felt so different, he’d been on the other side of the federal justice system. Talking to a prison guard, realising there was a calling outside the world of petty theft he knew.

And now even that had changed. He wasn’t a guard at Lockforge any more…there was no Lockeforge. All that remained was a concrete shell, inside and out torn apart by mutated inmates. It was hard to let it go, to just think of it as a now-abandoned building. Even on this side of the law, that place had still been home to him.

But the future looked bright. He wasn’t sure if this new calling had been an offer, or something that was thrust upon him, but… “Hey, careful, big man. Nobody gets hurt, alright?”

He quickly tightened his grip on the prisoner, feeling him struggle a little against his bonds…the hypnotic effect must be wearing off. Wrapping his arms twice more around the man would make sure he couldn’t move his own, muscular arms. And if the prisoner struggled again…well, he wasn’t sure how far he could really stretch, but it was a good way of finding out.

From ‘skeleton man’ to ‘rubber man’, things were looking bright for Tom Keyes. He’d even heard plans of a ‘New Lockeforge’, to take care of these ‘super-prisoners’…so what better place for a ‘super-guard’?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Phoenix only stopped to lock up the office, all thoughts of work abandoned. And it took them a while to get back to their office, walking back. He was too tired to fly, and they didn’t need to draw any more unwanted attention, anyway. As darkness set in, the two of them were still the only ones brave enough – or stupid enough – to be outside. Not even thieves and looters dared to show their faces in the wake of the Big Bang.

And when they’d got back to their apartment, to their collective horror, they found they had a unexpected visitor, who had maybe arrived some hours before. Maya let out a small shriek, looking as if she was about to faint. Seeing Pearl, peacefully lying in front of the door…she must have thought the same thing as he did, for a split-second.

“I-i-is she…is Pearly..!?” As he knelt down, he saw her chest rise and fall, her eyelids twitch in the midst of a dream. His body protested, but he picked her up – Pearls was still quite small and light, but seemed to have grown a little, since he last saw her. “She’s okay, Maya. It’s a miracle, but she’s fine. She’s...she’s just sleeping.”

The little girl made a quiet mewling sound as she stirred a little, looping her arms around the man’s neck, and resting her head on his shoulder with a sigh. He choked on a small laugh, tears of relief in his eyes, and a new, though less pressing concern in his mind. If she’d been caught in the Big Bang, he hoped nothing bad would happen to her.

“And now I wish I had a camera…” Maya giggled, unlocking the apartment door and stepping inside, crashing in her usual place on the couch as if it were any other day. Phoenix followed a similar routine, sitting down in the gap where her legs wouldn’t reach. Pearl’s hands felt oddly warm against the back of his neck...he put a hand to her forehead to check her temperature.

“Hmm…I wonder if we have any leftover pizza in the fridge?” his assistant mused, lying on her back. “Saving the day really works up an appetite. You want anything?” She sat up, and blinked at him oddly, her eyes focusing on one particular thing. “Nick…what happened to the cut over your eye? It looks like it’s gone…”

The lawyer felt the area just above his jagged eyebrow. Landing badly after Payne dropped him, he’d ended up with a small but deep gash above his left eye. He’d taken the gauze and tape off when he’d sat down, just a minute ago, since he’d felt it itching. And now…there was nothing.

One of Pearl’s arms dropped down. The palm of her hand had a soft, white glow, which slowly faded away. He smiled, his muscles no longer stiff and aching, protesting at the slightest movement. “…I guess a hug at the end of the day really can work wonders.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[…This is so ludicrous…I can’t believe this…] After an already tiring day, Edgeworth was still awake, at ten minutes past midnight, amidst the light of the moon and a flickering security light.

He cursed his habit of turning up early to every appointment. It was only a suspicion until they arrived. But now, having spent a good 20 minutes out in the freezing cold, keeping his eye out for police patrols like some common criminal, he was sure he was right.

Picking up their footsteps as they approached him from behind was easy. They were small and light, and quite quick, hurrying along. He sighed, pulling his dark overcoat closer. “…Hello, Miss Skye.”

The footsteps degenerated into an irregular clattering as the person almost tripped over. Then, the rustle of material…probably pulling down the dark hood she’d adorned, in an effort to look ‘mysterious’. “How did you know it was me!?”

“It doesn’t take special abilities” – he bluntly refused to call them ‘superpowers’ – “to work that out. Who else would send a blackmail letter like that, other than someone who’s seen a few too many crime movies?” He smirked. Ema sighed, pouting childishly, and sat down next to him on the bench.

“That’s no way to talk to someone who could turn you in, Mr. Edgeworth.” Seriously, what happened to good old-fashioned respect between a blackmailer and blackmailee? It was unbelievable. “…’Cause, with all these criminals running around with superpowers, I bet the police would love to talk to you…”

Edgeworth sniffed. He wished he’d brought a newspaper to read. “Well, why aren’t you bothering Wright and his assistant, then?” If she had been watching him at the scene, she would have to blind not to see what they were doing. Even the lawyer himself would admit that ‘subtle’ was a word which didn’t mean much to his defence team. Whether in court, or on that street which had served as their battlefield.

“ ’Cause…well…” she looked at her feet. The prosecutor raised an eyebrow expectantly. Ema gripped the edge of her lab coat with both hands. “…I don’t have powers.” Her grip tightened as she shut her eyes, her goggles falling down over them. “And I probably would have got them if you hadn’t shoved me in that fume closet!”

“What!?” Edgeworth was taken aback. He’d saved her life once from that falling barrel, and he might well have saved her again by picking her up. Even though the effects of the chemicals turned out to be unusual, but not lethal, who knew what could have happened if she’d been soaked with them? Or inhaled too much of the toxic gases, or been caught in the explosions-!?

“Miss. Skye…” he said sternly, his face like thunder. “…I am no scientist. For all I knew, all of those chemicals were harmful, if not downright lethal. And if I hadn’t brought you to safety, you may have been killed by the ensuing explosions.” He got up, turning to walk away. He felt…disgusted, almost betrayed, that she could be so selfish, so immature.

“Wait-!” feeling a hand pull on his coat sleeve, he whipped round with borderline-unnatural speed. Ema fell back onto the bench, a shocked look on her face, which quickly switched to an apologetic one as she realised she was staring. “Mr. Edgeworth…there was…I did have another reason, for calling you out here.”

He sighed in return, his breath turning to smoke in the late night air. This had better be worth his time. The young scientist seemed to read his expression exactly, and started digging around inside her ever-present leather bag. “Here it is!” she said, smiling happily, and taking out a long, black object. In the low light, it was nearly impossible to tell what it was…until he saw a slight glint of steel.

“Miss. Skye, that is a lethal weapon, and nobody should be in possession of such an item.” He said, his expression returning to a frown after the initial shock. Where would she get such a thing? Ema looked offended. “Well, you’re a superhero, now, right? You’ll need a good weapon if you’re going to go up against…a big, slimy blob monster or something.”

Edgeworth sighed again, his palm on his forehead, massaging his temples with his thumb and pinkie finger. Giant blob monster or not, a death was still a death. Murder was still murder. And he was starting to despise that word, ‘superhero’. It made the world seem far too black and white…maybe it reminded him too much him of how he’d been, once upon a time. “Miss. Skye…”

“Well…would you at least try it out? I’ve been working on it since I saw you fighting that madman!” Working on it…? She’d made it? But sword manufacture required years of experience, and expert skill, not to mention the proper equipment. But…at some point while he’d been thinking, the sword, and its straight, black casing, had ended up in his hand.

He could at least look at it, he supposed. It might look good on his office wall, if nothing else. Unsheathing it, seeing the glint of metal under the flickering artificial light, he recognised it by its short, straight blade and ‘broken’ tip. A Ninjatō, or Ninjaken, like a cut-down, lightweight katana. Books on world history, including that of feudal Japan, did make fascinating bed-time reading.

Holding it at arms length, he gave it a few experimental swishes. If he was going to use this, he’d need practice, as he had no idea how to handle a…no! No, what was he thinking? He was a prosecutor, that was his job, not running around in spandex, with his undergarments on the outside, like some crazed lunatic.

Ema held out her hand as he went to put the sword away. “Try hitting it against something. Hit it pretty hard, like you want to break the blade.” Edgeworth raised a quizzical eyebrow again, but…after Ms. Skye had apparently made the Ninjatō in the space of an evening...

CHANK. Clatterclatter. He hit it as hard as he could, blunt edge-on, against the security lamp post, solid concrete. Half of the blade broke off, falling to the ground…then immediately turned to a sort of viscous liquid, like mercury. Then, suddenly, the liquid then jumped up to join with the intact half. And, once there, it re-solidified into the exact, flawless blade it had been before. Edgeworth’s jaw hung open in amazement.

“Impressed?” Ema smirked, tilting her head. “I thought, since you’re a superhero now, and I don’t have powers…” There was that word again. “…I could make gadgets and things for you. I mean, you can’t fly like Mr. Wright, or that girl who was with him, but I could make…ooh, how about a grappling hook?”

She pulled out a notepad and began making preliminary drawings. The spark of the young girl who’d left for Europe wasn’t dying out yet, that was for sure. He slid the sword back into its casing. But…did he really have the heart to tell her that he wasn’t a superhero, and that he never would be?

Then again…he didn’t want to attempt to dam her new-found flood of inspiration…she never had the skills, nor the ideas, to do such things before. It made him wonder, too, exactly how much exposure she’d had to that cloud…

“So how about it?” her voice cut through his thoughts like that strange, re-forming sword. “Can I make superhero gadgets and things for you? I mean, I could always turn you over to the police…”

[And I could very well do the same with you, Miss. Blackmailer.] he thought. There was a dismayed look on her face as he handed back the sword, but he gave a half-bitter smirk. “…Very well, Miss Skye. I suppose you may make ‘gadgets and things’ for me. Just…hold onto this, until we get to my car. In case someone sees it.”

That sword was going on his wall. Or in his closet. Either way, accepting her offer might just keep the young lady out of his hair. “Great!” Ema literally jumped in response…just great, really. Now she was emotionally blackmailing him, and she didn’t even realise. “That means we’re partners in justice, now! Shake on it?” She held out her hand. Still a little reluctant, the prosecutor took her bare hand in his leather-clad one.

“There. Now, Miss. Skye…unless you have some transportation arranged…” but she was already ahead of him. “The parking lot is over here, right, Mr. Edgeworth?” He sighed yet again, back to that familiar feeling of exasperation. At this rate, maybe he’d be making more money as a taxi driver than a prosecutor, or a superhero. No, a vigilante, that was what he meant…they were the same thing, after all, weren’t they?

Reaching into his pocket for his car keys, he braced himself for what was surely going to be a rather long trip back to his apartment.
~Avatar by Sakuro & Endless Blasphemy~NEW Banner by jesidres~
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Last edited by ExImplode07 on Fri Jan 18, 2008 9:46 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Re: Phoenix HEROES: The Kallisti Project - Arc Zero - CHAPTETopic%20Title
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At your service. <3

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Oh, lovely lovely update. :D

The best parts?
Definitely Payne and Meekins. Oh, good god. xD
Hair power and mind control. And Ema serving as the Gizmo Gal/Gear person. Loving it, loving it.

I can't wait to see what else has happened to everyone. ;D Great action scenes, keep up the excellent work!
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Tee Hee Hee...Boom!

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Location: right here in the passenger seat...

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Great new chapter!!!
keep it up!!!
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EDIT: THE BLUE PHOENIX!!!
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Eternally grasping for contradictions...
: Phoenix Wright : The Musical ::Vinci's wallpapers/sigs/avatars/stuff :
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Slightly Disheveled Radiator

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HAHA! That's amazing right there, thanks! XD
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Created by Vickinator, the greatest person EVER.
~ Crying in Public ~ The Kallisti Project: Samurai Arc

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Is he doing JAZZ HANDS at the camera!?

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Awwww, cuuuute! X3 That's awesome, Ajerben, but you might want to remove it as your avatar, or the mods might have words with you (it's a bit big). =\
~Avatar by Sakuro & Endless Blasphemy~NEW Banner by jesidres~
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"Battle is my forte!"

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The elusive Sakuro shows herself~! XD And I love that animation Ajerben. Animating anything takes a lot of work, and I agree with Plodey, it's cute~! ^^ I have some drawings for you guys, but I have to color them first... [but there's only like, three people on this thread who haven't seen them anyway. XD] I will get on that then...

And I'm pretty sure I've already told you two this but I love chapter two. XD Nicely layed out. But geeze if these guys can't handle Payne... Well... [cackles] Ahem. I laughed a lot. [Especially with Ema. Her role in this just amuses me. XD You know, I've never drawn Ema before...maybe I should get on that.]
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Possibly Insane

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Wow, another absolute brilliant chapter. XD
Payne's like that first boss that everyone can easily beat, ha. Perfect as a primary antagonist. Though Gant later... Gah...

Don't tell me he drops swimming pools on people XD
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Slightly Disheveled Radiator

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....that would be severely entertaining, I must say. But I'm not saying anything. *mums*
Yeah, we thought Payne would be a perfect antagonist for the beginning. He's just sort of pathetic enough so that our heros could get used to their powers.

But thank you for reading :D
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Created by Vickinator, the greatest person EVER.
~ Crying in Public ~ The Kallisti Project: Samurai Arc

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DON'T INTERRUPT ME, JUSTICE!!!

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So far this is a really interest piece of work. I can't wait to see where it heads.
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Is he doing JAZZ HANDS at the camera!?

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Thankyou! :3 This fic is going to head in a lot of interesting directions...it's looking to be very long. XD We just hope it won't disappoint! And thanks for the comment. <3
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Re: Phoenix HEROES: The Kallisti Project - Arc Zero - CHAPTETopic%20Title
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DON'T INTERRUPT ME, JUSTICE!!!

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I'll be keeping an eye on it for updates then. ^.^
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Legal Aid

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Sorry it took me so long to respond but I'm happy you updated so soon with the next chapter. I think I was half right on Maggey's super power. Mike Meekins I got wrong as for Ema well I knew that she might get an increased in IQ, still I'm glad that you managed to write the abilities without resorting to copying them from the Marvel/DC universe that must have been a very hard thing to do. :grey:

As for the rest I guess I have to wait for the next chapter and see if I guessed right. Your going to include every Phoenix Wright character? Even the ones that are technically supposed to be out of LA like :jake: :franny: Image The Big Berry Circus crew and Shelly De Killer?

I actually wonder what De Killer's power would be like and if he would still be going out of his way to recruit the sixth De Killer Heir even if it would be Phoenix or Edgeworth and I imagine that Miles abilities would draw his attention.

Too bad purple toxic mist doesn't bring the dead back to life :grey: :gregory: Image Image Shelly De Killer and Joe Drake would be an evil team up unless of course they end of hating each other of course I haven't forgotten one other person...

PW3 Case 5 Major Spoilers

Spoiler:
:chinami: Is dead at the start of the trial in case 5 I would imagine maybe she would go after Maya Fey.


I'm looking forward to the next chapter!

Last edited by Shion on Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Haha, thank you for checking in! Yeah, your guess on Maggey was pretty good.

...Jake isn't from LA?
We have a lot of plans for a lot of characters - who and what, now, I won't say. But hopefully you'll be pleased with who we include and what their role in the story was. I can safely say that some characters that will have roles you could probably expect, and others will be complete suprises. Some might also do things or have powers you probably wouldn't expect.

But please, keep guessing! We love to watch you all make feeble attempts at reading our brilliant minds try and piece together all of the puzzle pieces we lay out for you.
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MercuryKitten wrote:
Haha, thank you for checking in! Yeah, your guess on Maggey was pretty good.

...Jake isn't from LA?



Sorry MercuryKitten what I wanted to say was that Jake Marshall probably didn't stick around in LA after AA2 the same thing goes for Angel Starr considering the ending from Rise From the Ashes. The Big Berry Circus crew said that they were going to Africa next for some reason so I think they would be out of the city by the time of the Big Bang.

Then again that could change as more chapters are released I hope you don't mind my crack pot theories with deceased Phoenix Wright characters rising from the grave and walking among the living and all. :payne:
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Is he doing JAZZ HANDS at the camera!?

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Ahh, that's a lot clearer, thanks. :3 Mercs just let me know about your previous post. We'll have to see what happens, ne?

And I'm pleased to say that Chapter 3 is about 55-60% done. X3 Maybe a little more by the end of tonight. But it'll be coming soon!
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DOUBLE POST FOR GREAT FAILURE. Ah well, had to be done. XD Chapter 3 is DONE. It's a little shorter than the last two (just short of 6,000 rather than just over 7,000), but Mercs has told me it's a lot more powerful. Which I hope compensates. Chapter 4 is going to be quite action-y, I should think - I'm looking forward to writing it, and I should have it ready for y'all as a Christmas present.

Still, enjoy the drama and such! We <3 comments, also. 'Tis the season of giving!

-----------------------------------------

The Kallisti Project - Arc Zero - Chapter 3


“Hm.” Edgeworth’s eyes scanned the newspaper laid in front of him. He would never stoop to reading tabloid rags, and today was no exception. But would it really make much of a difference? Even the national press, possibly even international, too, was going gaga over ‘the Big Bang’ as it was so uncreatively dubbed. However, the media dubbed those afflicted with the explosion’s after-affects by many names. Mutants…freaks…supers. Anything to divide the world a fraction smaller, to separate ‘us’ from ‘them’, to turn men into demons.

It had only been five days since the incident. Less than a week. But it seemed the majority of people already considered these ‘Freaks’ dangerous, a threat to the rest of humanity. Probably because of the inmates who no doubt were still at large. There were calls for them to be identified, to surrender themselves to authority.

Others took up placards and protested for ‘Mutant Rights’. Others still donned tinfoil hats, welcoming the aliens and their plan to advance humanity to a new evolutionary level.

But while the masses pulled and pushed them this way and that, trying to find a label, they kept quiet and just watched. They – the ‘Supers’, if he had to use labels…short for superhumans, it was probably the kindest term – waited. He was hoping he’d be able to wait forever, just be human, albeit with a few optional extras. In some way, it could be considered cowardly, but what else was he supposed to do? And then the whole mess with Prosecutor Payne had landed in his supposedly capable hands.

The article was on the third page in. On the front page, something skulking around the ruins of Old Lockforge prison…it seemed even non-tabloid newspapers couldn’t resist sensationalism’s siren call. But still, if only they knew, if only they understood the decision he’d had to make in court…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The prosecutor’s fist clenched as he stood at his bench. This was it, the third and final day of the trial…but what did he have to show for it? The dark rings around his eyes gave away his lack of sleep, the night he’d spent poring over legal texts, looking for something that jumped out. But now, there was nothing else for it…if Payne’s supposed victims could not be located, they would have no choice but to drop the assault charges against him. The Judge had made that very clear.

The bespectacled man in the defendant’s chair seemed so small now. A strange creature in a world of humans, a caged lion with the mane he treasured so much all but cut off. Only those who were victims to his burst of temporary insanity would understand what still lurked within the seemingly pathetic creature.

But in Edgeworth’s eyes, the answer was still as clear as mud. If he identified himself, and Wright, and Miss Fey as victims…the case against Payne was justified, but they could still find themselves victims of the ensuing witch hunt.

There was a pair of blue eyes on him. Trusting him. The viewing galleries were standing room only, so Wright had been forced over to the defence’s side. It felt different, not standing behind the bench, just watching the courtroom drama unfold before you.

But now was his time…and he was so bloody clueless, he felt so bloody helpless. What was he supposed to do? This came down to much more than just winning and losing. He was a victim, a witness…but at what cost, to put a rightfully Guilty man behind bars?

Prosecutor Edgeworth straightened his back. Either way, the choice he’d make would have to be his, and his alone. He couldn’t prolong the trial any further, and miracles only seemed to plague certain defence attorneys. “Your honour…the prosecution regrets to inform the court that the identities of the victims are…”

He hesitated as the tension made the air grow heavy. He could feel every eye on him, hear the creak of every clenched fist…and that inner sense of justice, flaring suddenly. “…are currently unknown. The prosecution rests.” The words were bitter ashes in his mouth. He didn’t need to look up, to see what Wright’s face said. There was a different, cold fire in those eyes now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even before the chemicals hit, Wright had an almost unnatural resilience. Perhaps that was why he was named for the one, mythical creature that could evade death itself. But Payne had damn near killed him…and, for his crimes, the ex-prosecutor had received a course of anger management. That, plus community service, and a short stay in the minimum security wing at New Lockeforge…they may as well have thrown in a cash prize, to boot.

Following that verdict, both of them were strangers in their own courtroom. The defence attorney in the viewing gallery, and the prosecution giving up when he knew he could win. But the whole world was strange to them now...if he’d exposed their secrets, their legal careers would be over, at best. At worst…it didn’t bear thinking about. It was so easy to dehumanise a human.

‘Public furious at lenient sentence’ , ‘anti-super protests mount in response’…he threw the newspaper into the waste paper basket. He turned a fine-nibbed ink pen over and over in his fingers. Miles Edgeworth didn’t believe in fate, or destiny. His life path had been manipulated by others too many times, for too long already…but becoming like his own father had always seemed inevitable. Even as a prosecutor, he was still defending people, protecting the innocent. But why didn’t Wright understand that? Why had that betrayal, from when he’d refused to even speak his name, returned?

There was a knock at the door. Those heavy footsteps, their clumsy irregular motions, all heading his way, he should have known who it was. His hand moved from the office telephone…there would be time to explain himself later. “Come in, Detective.” The heavy door creaked open – he had been meaning to get those hinges oiled – and Gumshoe stepped in cautiously, with all the stealth of an intoxicated elephant.

“Mr. Edgeworth, sir…” the man held out an unmarked brown envelope. No doubt details for a new case, after the crime scene for the homicide investigation had literally gone up in smoke. The man looked…frightened, almost paranoid, like he was trying to tempt a starving tiger with a piece of broccoli.

The prosecutor took it from him with a simple “Thankyou”. With the detective seemingly expecting to lose a hand, or another vital body part, this couldn’t be good news. He scanned over it quickly, then laid the single sheet on his desk. “…So I’m being assigned a robbery case. I’m taking this has something to do with the rumours of me… ‘losing my touch’, as it were.”

It was hard not to hear the snippets of whispered conversation, or at least until he learned to block out the background noise of everyday life. Hearing no response, he looked up. Gumshoe was still there, scratching his head...for once, he actually seemed to be thinking rather than just blurting out whatever came into his mostly empty head.

Though it made little difference to him, the detective would normally be hanging on his every word. He didn’t just not listen. Edgeworth sighed. He’d already heard the story of how the man’s car came to be covered in feathers and molasses, at the end of what could only be described as a streak of very bad luck. And even if it wasn’t that, he was probably going to regret asking this. “Detective, is there something bothering you?”

“Oh? No, nothing’s bothering me, pal…” And here came the ‘but’. The man’s shoulders slumped. “But…y’know what the papers’re saying about those, uh, mutants?”

Edgeworth suddenly had a horrible sinking feeling. [Oh Christ, not him too...] Several horrible possibilities ran through his mind. He just hoped that whatever newfound ability Gumshoe was bound to demonstrate, it wouldn’t result in him redecorating. Though if it came to that, all he needed was a pen and he had the power to deduct the costs from his salary.

“Well, see…I…I’ve been seeing things. Or…not seeing things exactly, but…” he clenched his fists. Evidently, his power wasn’t super-intelligence, as judging from the sweat gathering on his brow, those rusty gears were at breaking point. “Just…ask me where someone is, pal! But I’m pretty sure it has to be someone I know!”

The prosecutor raised an eyebrow. He had a very odd mental image of Gumshoe flipping through a telephone directory, picking out random names. And yet, it didn’t seem all that unlikely, after Wright apparently jumped off his office roof to test his new wings. “Very well, Detective…where is Officer Mike Meekins?”

“He’s…” a dreamy sort of look crossed the man’s face, as if he’d switched to a sort of autopilot. “…he’s on 3rd Street, and he’s running fast! And there’s something else, a dog, maybe…I told him putting that sandwich in his back pocket was a bad idea!” With a blink, it was like a switch had been flicked to ‘off’, and he was back to grinning nervously.

“Good grief.” Edgeworth tried his best to look shocked. As far as ‘special abilities’ went, it…well, it frankly wasn’t all that special. Or even particularly useful. But – and this was definitely to the Detective’s advantage – it wasn’t dangerous or difficult to hide. But…if he could see what other people were doing, as well as their location, did he know? “…So, why are you telling me this? Any particular reason?”

“N-no reason, sir...I’m just...kinda scared. I mean, what will the rest of the force think? What-what will Maggey think? If I told her, or if she found out…I bet she’d think I’m a monster, like that one at the abandoned prison.”

SLAM. A little more forcefully than he’d intended, his palm found his desk. “Detective…” he sighed, sitting down again after a short pause. “…You should consider yourself lucky, that you are relatively unaffected by those chemicals. Provided you keep your ‘new talent’ under wraps, I can assure you nobody will notice.”

“…Not even Maggey?”

“Not even Miss. Byrde, no.” looking away from the hopeful look, he suppressed a smirk, and pretended to occupy himself with the papers on his desk. He didn’t really do relationships, on a personal level. But it was rather endearing, watching a man six years his senior fret over a schoolboy crush.

Endearing? He really was becoming his father, he thought with a bittersweet smirk. The Miles Edgeworth from just a few years ago would have cut out his tongue before using such a word. Perhaps it was coming so close to losing his own life, which had brought back such memories, which was inspiring such previously unthinkable thoughts. He really had changed.

“Thanks, Mr. Edgeworth. I knew you’d know what to say.”

[Oh, yes. I’m a real Agony Aunt, aren’t I?] Now that was over, there was just this to deal with - a failed robbery of a large Star Ruby, the centrepiece of a museum’s exhibit. It was still fairly boring and straightforward, but the priceless gem made it high-profile. It wouldn’t quite dispel the rumours about him, but it was a start.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was hard to let go. Phoenix took very few cases, only a handful a year if he was lucky. He’d lost only one case, but his client’s Guilty verdict was one of the greatest victories he remembered. Everything had hinged on a single decision, and he could rest knowing justice had been done. But now, there’d be a guilty man, someone who’d left him bruised and bleeding, walking the streets within less than a month. All charges of assault dropped, due to lack of evidence.

There was no justice here. For him, or for Maya, who only escaped similar injury from a mixture of luck, and unusual skill with her new powers. The supernatural did seem to be second-nature to spirit mediums. And hearing that verdict, it was as if a kind of madness had overtaken him. All he could think of was the sheer injustice of it all. Just thinking why, why didn’t he call them forward to testify?

It was only when that red mist finally cleared that he realised. Edgeworth had taken a dive. He’d lost, on purpose. He’d done it to protect them, so they wouldn’t find themselves facing the judgement of the world. Guilty of nothing other than what they’d become, but guilty nonetheless.

And he’d been completely oblivious to the whole thing. How must that man have felt, putting his reputation, already battle-scarred, in the line of fire…and having that selfless act shoved back in his face? He’d just reacted. It was what he’d felt, knowing Payne was getting off lightly, but he was still so...stupid. He should call him…he should stop wallowing in self-pity and just apologise.

But, right on cue for the worst possible time, that horrible, irritating, infuriating feeling was back again. If he tried to ignore it, it just seemed to get worse, like it had over the day or so following the trial…maybe it was stress. Maybe this was what you called bad karma, and he was getting his just-desserts for being such an idiot. Or maybe it was just bad luck. But either way, he wasn’t going to give in to it…not this time…!

“Nick, stop scratching!” Maya snapped, her hands on her hips. Since his itching problem had started, she’d taken to treating him like a small child. Probably, she was getting her own back for him scaring her, screaming the place down when he’d woken up covered in blue feathers. The two Feys had come in swinging¸ the elder with a baseball bat and the younger with her fists – and nearly attacked him when he found he’d just been shedding overnight.

“But it itches! Ahhh…yeah…” Hitting the right spot, just at the base of his wing felt really satisfying, even if it wasn’t doing the office floor much good. A few more feathers came loose joining the rest, which still littered the floor despite their best efforts to clean up. He’d taken to having his wings out whenever he wasn’t in public…having an 8-foot wingspan shoved into his back was uncomfortable, to say the least.

But whether they were out or not, the itching that accompanied moulting was driving him crazy. Gritting his teeth, sliding his fingers between his feathers, he just hoped this wouldn’t be a regular occurrence. If he didn’t end up looking like a plucked chicken, then he’d go completely insane.

“I just hope you’re not sick or something.” There was a sight from Maya as she swept up some feathers. “If it’s just fleas, we can get you a flea collar from a pet store.” Using what she’d come to call her ‘Spirit Hands’, she picked them up and dropped them in the trash, on the other side of the room “But I don’t think they make carriers big enough, if you need a trip to the veterinarian…” she continued with a thoughtful look.

Please tell me you’re kidding, Maya…” Sometimes, telling when his assistant was being serious was even harder than resisting the urge to scratch. His wings shuddered, shaking free some more down. [Just because I have wings, it doesn’t mean I’m a pet!] She pouted in return, puffing out her cheeks comically. “Don’t make me buy a muzzle as well!”

“I heard that baby birds lose their fluffy feathers so they can fly better.” Pearl finally spoke up, helping out as best she could by picking up her own handfuls. After seeing Nick’s wings for the first time, stroking them and marvelling at how pretty they were, she’d been slightly disappointed with her new healing powers. Just the thought of Pearls being able to fly...he was already shedding enough without that worry. “Maybe that’s why you’re losing so many, Mr. Nick. You’re a grown-up but your wings aren’t.”

It seemed as good an explanation as any, though going through a kind of second puberty didn’t seem much more appealing than having fleas. As much as he tried, the occasional sharp cramp, like growing pains, wouldn’t let him forget that he was still changing. And he hadn’t paid much attention in Biology class, but looking at the suddenly lower number on the scale, he’d remembered birds had hollow bones.

It scared him. But he wouldn’t mention that in front of the two girls, even though the strange and supernatural were second-nature to a medium. He just hoped, to himself, that the transformation was only skin-deep, that he’d still be the same Phoenix Wright when this was over.

“Hey, Nick! There’s something on TV about Mask*DeMasque again!” Maya was still the same as ever, grabbing the remote with a glowing hand and turning up the volume. Phoenix sat down on the couch – if he wrapped his wings around himself a little, he could sit without hurting them.

Though mostly overshadowed by the pro- and anti-mutant protests, there’d been several such reports over the past few days. Someone dressed as the phantom thief was committing robberies again, but he didn’t believe it was his old client, Ron DeLite. The copycat DeMasque imitated his style completely, right down to the trademarked calling cards…but targeted state-of-the-art technology. Not the kind of thing to supplement Desirée’s spending habits.

However, according to the news report, the latest in the string of robberies had been a failure. He (or even she?) had broken into the “Stars of the Earth” gem exhibit, and attempted to steal the centrepiece – a large Star Ruby, known as- [Oh…you have got to be kidding me. Please, please tell me I didn’t just hear that…] He could sense them coming. Jokes. Lots and lots of bad jokes. Normally it was his last name which he’d be cursing…

“Mask*DeMasque tried to steal the Heart of the Phoenix?” Feeling Maya nudge him, giggling, he groaned in response. “Kinda romantic, huh, Nick? Trying to steal your heart, and you’ve never even met face-to-face. I bet they committed all those robberies just so their favourite lawyer could defend them!”

"You mean someone other than Mystic Maya is...?" The little girl was pushing her sleeve back – he could practically feel the sting of the incoming slap already. "No, no, Pearls, it's not like that! It's just a really big ruby, that's what they tried to steal..." They really would have to explain, eventually, that their relationship wasn't like that.

But it seemed Maya was off on another one of her tangents. "It's strange, though, isn't it? Why would Mask*DeMasque steal a bunch of technology, then something like this? It is pretty, though...and really expensive..." Her eyes glittered greedily as a photograph appeared on-screen. True to its name, the deep red stone had been cut into a smooth heart shape. All the better to capture the white star in the centre, like a giant snowflake glittering just below the surface.

Suddenly, the medium appeared to have been hit with a 'eureka' moment. "That's it, Nick!" Following that particular case, though it had taken a few weeks, he was thankful she'd stopped saying 'zvarri'. "All that technology...and now a big red gem...it must be some bad guy who's trying to build a laser! Or a death ray, just like in the movies! All while making the real Mask*DeMasque look bad!"

[As if being a thief wasn't bad enough? And you were one of his 'victims', too...] Losing oneself in one's own fantasies seemed to be a recurring trend in the Fey family...maybe an active imagination was a requirement for spirit channelling. Either way, that smirk on her face suggested he was about to be dragged, once again, into that fantasy world, whether he liked it or not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They escaped? If this is a joke, I can assure you, I am not in the last bit amused, officer..." Edgeworth snapped through gritted teeth, at the terrified rookie in front of him. But it couldn't be helped, he supposed. The Police Department was still embroiled in the chaos following the Big Bang. There was not only pressure to deal with super-criminals, but also controversy over their own officers, some of whom were displaying delayed reactions to the chemicals.

Yet another reason to cause panic among the masses. Fear made it easy to forget that these 'mutants' were actually victims themselves. People were...difficult. Emotions were difficult especially. He regretted not standing up in that courtroom, speaking out in the defence of all those who had been forced into hiding, but he just couldn't. He knew he wasn't strong enough.

The young officer turned and ran, all too eager to be dismissed, with a wave of the prosecutor's hand. According to the report, the suspect had been broken out of custody by - as bizarre as it sounded, even after everything – a robotic accomplice. At first glance, it appeared to explain the string of technology-related thefts. But crime scenes were rarely straightforward. This case was no exception.

Looking around the gaping hole in the wall, where an investigation team was working, he considered the information he'd been given just minutes ago. Apparently, a nearby car had crashed into it with such force, it should have killed the driver...if there even was one. The distraught owner still had the original key, and there was no evidence the vehicle had been hot-wired. The only way it could have ended up through the wall was if it was thrown. And with the rise of the super-criminal, that was actually a possibility.

And then there was the rest of the scene, surrounded by yellow police tape. The reinforced glass casing surrounding the Heart of the Phoenix had been shattered, and so had the cases surrounding it, but nothing except the flawless star ruby had been taken. The thief had a very specific goal in mind, so why go out of their way to-?

"Hi Mr. Edgeworth!" ...It appeared Miss. Skye hadn't quit her day job just yet. Lifting her pink goggles and nearly dropping the white powder she was holding, she beamed from ear-to-ear. "So, you're prosecuting this case? Or..." she glanced quickly to either side, and spoke in a loud whisper, cupping her hand to her mouth. "...is this one of those special investigations?"

"Special...?" He closed his eyes slowly. The feeling of pressure in his temples which always preceded a headache was starting to build. He knew what she meant. "Oh...of course." He paused, realising he was thinking out loud. "I mean, of-of course not! No!"

Ema smiled back, giving a knowing wink. It seemed despite everything he said to the contrary, she was still convinced he was a superhero. That slip of the tongue hadn't helped his cause, either. "We'll talk business later." she added, patting her trusty bag. "Someone hit the fire alarm button on the night of the crime, but they must have been wearing gloves. There's no prints anywhere."

That just brought about more questions. Why would this Mask*DeMasque character, the only person possibly wearing gloves, deliberately draw attention to themselves? He frowned. Speaking of drawing attention to oneself, he was picking something up...hard to tell how obvious it might be to a normal human. Two people - someone humming the theme from 'Mission: Impossible', followed by a quick "Shh!".

"Miss. Skye, as you said, we shall...'talk business' another time. I believe something requires my attention." He left the young scientist with a confused, almost suspecting look, as he headed in the direction of the out-of-place sound.

Something in his sharpened instincts told him to be ready. He rounded the corner, all other noise fading around him. Even colours appeared dampened. In this twilight world, this state of mind, there was just his heartbeat in his ears, and whatever awaited him next.

Then - sound! Movement! Colour! It was all around him - everywhere! He lashed out into the confusion, an uncharacteristic wildness in his eyes-!

"Mr. Edgeworth, it's us!"

Everything stopped. A glowing fist held his own...it was Maya Fey, and Wright! He'd struck at them, without even thinking...but wouldn't an ordinary person do the same, being faced with...with a cloud of blue feathers!? "What the devil are you doing here!?" the prosecutor hissed through clenched teeth.

Phoenix sniffed, shaking his head, still regaining his senses. Hiding in a corner of the closed museum, they'd been sneaking around like they were the criminals, investigating for Maya's supposed 'supervillain'. One of the feathers he was still shedding had tickled his nose.

And from the look on Edgeworth's face, not to mention the blue down clinging to him, he'd been in the way of the resulting sneeze. He glanced sheepishly to the side, his wings disappearing into his back...something else he'd have to apologise for.

Meanwhile, Maya had been pleading her case, complete with crackpot supervillain theory. Her unfortunate one-man audience looked like he had a headache, and was already trying to shut her up through sheer willpower. "So, are you going to help us out again? The thief always returns to the scene of the crime, especially when they need a giant ruby for their death ray!"

"Absolutely not." Edgeworth replied, brushing away the offending fluff with his hand, and folding his arms. "I will be prosecuting this so-called 'phantom thief', as soon as they are brought to justice by the proper authorities, which I am perfectly capable of doing on my own."

"But...but why not!?" Nothing good was ever going to follow when Maya's pouting, especially in front of Edgeworth, one of the few people who were immune to her persuasive charms. Her companion tried to step in, but was quickly cut off. "We're supposed to be heroes! What else are we supposed to do besides put bad guys in jail!?"

"As much as I dislike discussing this at all, if we must talk about this, we are supposed to leave it until a more appropriate time!" the prosecutor hissed back, glancing over at some curious investigators. Phoenix found himself waving to them sheepishly, trying to convince the onlookers that the brewing argument between the strange girl in the robes, and the man in the cravat, was of no importance.

"You...you-!" The medium bunches her fists, tears gathering in her eyes, the strain of emotion apparent in her voice when she finally spoke up. "You just don't care, do you, Mr. Edgeworth!? You don't care! If you cared at all...the Rookie Crusher would have gone to jail!" She sobbed, tears running down her cheeks, biting her lip. Maya knew very well what she'd said, and that it was wrong...and she turned her back suddenly, unable to face the man she'd just wounded.

In the world of comic books, in the golden age, heroes didn't need to face the consequences of their actions. There was good, and there was evil. Black and white. A complex range of emotions crossed the man's face, finding which way to hurt. "Edgeworth, I'm s-" was all Nick managed to get out before the face settled on a single emotion.

"Get out." The fire burned cold in his eyes. "This is a crime scene. You have no business being here."

Nobody was watching again. A flash of blue was just one insignificant thing among many more important details, a man able to fly, still just a fantasy. Edgeworth watched them go. The fire burned, and he felt numb from the cold. People were difficult.

"I...I..." Detective Gumshoe just stared, for once, lost for words. All the colour had unsurprisingly drained from his face. Sometimes people made life difficult, other times, the roles were reversed. It was as if life had a life of its own, and the sadistic sense of humour that it took to create a moment like this. "...I...brought you the security tape, Mr. Edgeworth, sir."

This was going to take some explaining.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"NO! Detective, don't touch that! They're smoke bombs!"

"Sorry, pal...it's just, they do look a awful lot like gumballs..."

It was late in the evening. Too late to (once again) be dealing with the two extremes of the police force, and yet, here they were. Miss. Skye had insisted that they meet at her apartment, so they could 'talk business'...and Detective Gumshoe had to return the tapes as soon as possible.

After all, Edgeworth wasn't even supposed to be on the investigation team any more, since there was now no criminal to prosecute. But something bothered him about the evidence at the scene, something about how the pieces did or didn't fit together. Something that not only suggested a super-thief, but perhaps something altogether more sinister.

There were many vices to bring about man's ruin, offering an easy way out. A quick drink or sneaky cigarette or raise of the stakes and one could lose oneself, along with one's troubles. He rewound the tape again, looking over the footage before the picture cut to static. And like so many addicts, he stopped to think about how his vice, his work, must be killing him. Then, he carried on.

The picture flickered and came to life, a masked figure stepping into a mostly empty room. At every place this 'Mask*DeMasque' had visited, every security camera in the vicinity had been damaged beyond repair, at exactly the same time. Gumshoe had presented him with tapes of all the previous robberies, and apart from the angle, or the background, they were all exactly the same. Right down to that one, strange gesture, right before the cameras broke.

"...Is he doing jazz hands at the camera?" he enquired, to nobody in particular. Feeling eyes fixed on the back of his head, he was met with two blank, yet expecting stares. He half-heartedly demonstrated, and the young scientist made an odd sort of snorting noise, quickly returning to her own work.

Gumshoe just grinned, still seeming confused, but shrugged it off, only just resisting the urge to touch anything else as he made his way over to the television. "We're all pretty clueless down at the station. Why he does that thing, I mean. The only one that's different is...uh..." He picked up a tape, reading off the label. "Kernel Panic Enterprises. Weird name for a company dealing with computers, but they're not really my thing."

The prosecutor ran his fingers through his prematurely grey bangs, and sighed forcefully, only just resisting the urge to pull them out. That bumbling idiot never failed to leave out the most important details until the very last minute. "Detective. The tape, if you would." he said in the most calm way possible.

The man immediately obliged. "There's not really much to hear, sir." Edgeworth watched nonetheless. The thief didn't even appear to be in a hurry, almost casual footsteps echoing around the scene. Any security alarms must have been disabled already, perhaps by their android accomplice.

Suddenly, there was a very loud, high-pitched shriek, like microphone feedback. Everyone in the room covered their ears, and the sound was suddenly cut off as the camera went dead. "That...was certainly more than 'not much'!" Edgeworth spoke up, temporarily deafened for the second time that week. But it still begged the question, was it relevant? Was the sound some kind of error caused by the camera breaking?

...Or was the sound the thing which had broken the camera in the first place? He remembered, a talented opera singer could shatter a wine glass with his or her own voice. If this person's voice had been magnified somehow, perhaps from the effects of the Big Bang chemicals...it would explain the large quantity of broken glass at the museum!

But a hunch wouldn't stand up on its own, especially once the criminal was re-captured, and the case reached court. There had to be some way to prove that the sound came from that person, and wasn't some kind of mechanical malfunction. "Miss. Skye, would it be possible to slow down the sound in this tape at all?"

"Hm?" Carefully setting down a steaming test tube with a pair of tongs – this girl was, perhaps, as much of a workaholic as he was – Ema turned around, pushing up her pink-tinted safety goggles. "I guess I could try recording it and slowing it down with my laptop."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was even later in the evening, bordering on early morning, when a pact was made at Ema Skye's apartment. With permission from the Police Department, they would return the Heart of the Phoenix to its pride of place at the museum. To a theatrical figure such as Mask*DeMasque, even such an obvious trap would be irresistible. If not for another chance to snatch the coveted gem, than to prove his or herself worthy of such a challenge.

"So. We shall...'stake out' the museum tomorrow night." The prosecutor started, sliding the gleaming Ninjatō out of its ebony casing. He still had very little idea of how to use it, but whatever he could learn in the next 24 hours would have to suffice. "And, officially, I was never there." Hopefully he wouldn't even need it at all. Mask*DeMasque didn't strike him as the type to be armed and dangerous, except for that apparent sonic voice of theirs. But it was better to be prepared.

Detective Gumshoe nodded in agreement. "That's right, pal. As far as the report goes, we go into the museum to collect last-minute evidence." He scratched the back of his head unsurely. The doubts he himself was having about the competence of his beloved Police force must be bothering him.

Ema gave a reassuring smile. "That's right. Set a thief to catch a thief, set a superhero to catch a supervillain! And I've got the gadgets you need to do it!" The prosecutor sighed in response. This was vigilantism. He was breaking the law. But he had to do something.

Something really had changed. Though how much of it was the chemicals, and how much of it was Wright's accursed influence, he didn't know. He just hoped the attorney's incompetence when it came to sneaking around hadn't rubbed off, too.

And, just outside the apartment window, the watcher watched. There was a slight gleam, a small flash in the light pouring out from between the curtains, which went unnoticed by the watched. There was a toothy smirk. "...It appears, this cat and mouse game just got a great deal more interesting."
~Avatar by Sakuro & Endless Blasphemy~NEW Banner by jesidres~
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Re: Phoenix HEROES: The Kallisti Project - Arc Zero - CHAPTETopic%20Title
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Slightly Disheveled Radiator

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*steals chapter three comment virginity*
Now get out of my bed, woman.

You already know how much I love this chapter because I told you what to write half the time but you're still a genius and if I liked women more I'd have your children but alas I am not a lesbian as I so desire I was.
BUT IT'S OKAY ABSTRACT LOVE LETTERS ARE REALLY FUN.
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Created by Vickinator, the greatest person EVER.
~ Crying in Public ~ The Kallisti Project: Samurai Arc

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Re: Phoenix HEROES: The Kallisti Project - Arc Zero - CHAPTETopic%20Title
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At your service. <3

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PLEASE DIEEEEEEEEE. :accordion-head:

No, just kidding. :D You're really awesome.
Imagining Payne doing community service is just slightly... brain breakity.

Also, Gumshoe's an adorable guy. Not gonna lie.

Can't wait to read more!
And remember, if you ever need art done, don't hesitate to ask. :hotti:
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DON'T INTERRUPT ME, JUSTICE!!!

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Very good, the action just keeps coming. Excellent work.
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Re: Phoenix HEROES: The Kallisti Project - CHAPTER 3 12/17Topic%20Title
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Mmm...grape juice...

Gender: Male

Location: Hiding places

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...if Mask*DeMasque is who I think it is...that's a rather odd power for him.
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Is he doing JAZZ HANDS at the camera!?

Gender: Female

Location: In the closet

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OH MERCS. XD You like...told me which direction to go in. Twice or something. OUR LOVE IS SO HATE. <3

Rii, thanks for the comment - Payne doing community service is kinda @_@ and Gumshoe is love. <3 Socute. Looking forward to more fanarts!

Jenna, short and sweet as usual. :3 If you ever want to say anything more elaborate, go ahead. But any comments are good, really. ^^ We have some regular readers, yay~

And Silver 9, hi! :3 Nice to see Project Kallisti brought you out of lurking. The true identity of Mask*DeMasque will be confirmed next chapter. I know to some it may seem obvious, but this whole thing runs a lot deeper than some may think. XD Ooooh.

Keep the comments coming, peoples, we LOVE you all. <3
~Avatar by Sakuro & Endless Blasphemy~NEW Banner by jesidres~
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Re: Phoenix HEROES: The Kallisti Project - CHAPTER 3 12/17Topic%20Title
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Slightly Disheveled Radiator

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iknowwhomask*demasqueisandyouknowwhy?
why, that is because I am God. :D
Thank you for asking :D

...:D I'm so glad we're getting reviewers.
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Created by Vickinator, the greatest person EVER.
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Possibly Insane

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OmigodjazzhandsatthecameraIloveyouguys D:

And Edgeworth. Perfect for the lone-wolf really cool hero-guy XD
(Why'd I just think of batman? D: )
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