An Old Friend (Icy Taco/Phoenix Wright fanfic)

I guess Icy Taco stories could probably be considered NTWF stories, but this is mostly about PW so Pen's Point it is. XD

I tried to write this story in a way that people who don't already know all the weird Taco canon can understand. For those of you who already know what's going on, this will probably be amusing. For those of you who don't... remember that nothing is the same in the Icy Taco.

Oh, and before I forget, vague allusions to events in Ace Attorney Investigations are ahead. And also Turnabout Inn, since Torkie will probably want me to mention that. If you're super cautious of spoilers, now would be a good time to turn back and finish those. They're awesome, you know you want to

Anyway, on with the story!

---

I sighed as I walked into the familiar sight that was my office. It wasn't anything fancy or even particularly that nice, but it was mine. It felt good to be back after being gone for so long. Or, perhaps, for almost no time at all, depending on which side you asked.

My name is Phoenix Wright. I'm a defense attorney, running my own law office in Los Angeles. Fairly recently, though, a girl named PFA introduced me to a whole new multiverse she calls the NTWF. A land full of magic and wonder... a land that defies all time and logic. In fact, when I'm there, little or no time passes here at home.

It's been an... interesting experience. I've met many new friends there, as well as many old ones... some friends I thought I'd never get to see again at all. Some people I'd hoped to never see again at all... and some I just plain thought I would never meet. It's all so different over there. So... magical. Nothing is quite the same.

Not even I'm the same anymore...

Shaking my head, I set my briefcase down and sat down at my desk, shuffling through the papers I had left there. Paperwork from old cases, bills I had to pay... thank goodness for the payment the Ambassador sent me for that big case from a while back. It can get difficult to pay rent when my clients don't even pay me half the time.

As if on cue, the office door suddenly swung open at that moment, with a familiar grinning face on the other side. "Heyyy, Nick! Buddy!"

I looked up him with a raised eyebrow. "...Larry? What are you doing here?"

"Aw, is there anything wrong with stopping by?" Larry replied, trotting cheerfully over to my desk. "I just feel like I haven't seen you in forever, so I thought I'd say hi!"

It's been a lot longer for me than it's been for you, Larry, I thought, but knew better than to voice. Thankfully Larry isn't a mind-reader like some people I now know.

Larry Butz, as much of a goof and a klutz he is, has been a good friend of mine since as far back as grade school. We seem to be able to find ways to run into each other a lot... but despite this, for whatever reason, Larry is not one of the friends who made it to the NTWF with so many of the rest of us.

Which, well, meant he'd actually missed out on a significant portion of my life now.

"So how've you been, Nick?" Larry asked, as if picking up on my train of thought. "What'cha been up to all this time?"

"...That's a very long series of long stories, Larry."

"Aw come on, Nick! I'm made of time!" he chirped, climbing up and sitting on my desk. "Don't tell me you don't have at least one cool story to tell?"

"Well, uh..." I began to nudge Larry in the back, trying to push him off my desk. "...The long and short of it is that I've been traveling."

"Oooh, traveling! Where to?" Larry piped up with a grin. "Did you go to Paris? Did you see my girl Betty there?"

"No, I..." I paused. "...You have a girlfriend named Betty now?"

"Yep!" was his ever-cheerful reply. "Sweetest little thing. Really cute, too!"

I tried not to shudder. Larry had no idea, but the name 'Betty' put thoughts of twisted science into my mind as of late. "...That's nice. But no, I really doubt I saw your girlfriend."

"Aww!" Larry huffed in disappointment, slouching and still not getting off my desk. "So what did you see, then? Where'd you go?"

"Oh, I went to... lots of places." I began to organize the papers on my desk, pushing them to the side where Larry couldn't sit on them. "And I saw all sorts of things. All sorts of sights, all sorts of people... foreign courthouses..."

Larry apparently couldn't help but laugh at the last one. "You're really a lawyer through and through, aren't ya, Nick?"

"Ha. I guess you could say that." I glanced at the attorney's badge on my lapel thoughtfully. "I became a defense attorney for a reason, you know."

"Yeah, you told me all about that." Larry grinned, hopping down from my desk, finally. "Well then! We should go hit a fast food place and catch up, just the two of us! Wha'dya say?"

"...Wha?"

"Come on! You, me, the burger joint! And you can pay for it!" Larry gave a thumbs up.

I raised an eyebrow. "Um... well, I just got back here, but—"

"Aw Nick, it'll be great!" Larry insisted, reaching over the desk to drag me along with him in his eager haste. "Come on!"

Before I even knew what was going on, Larry was hoisting me up out of my seat. I suddenly—unexpectedly and instinctively—felt myself jump. He had grabbed me by my wrist. My right wrist.

Much to my displeasure, I saw Larry's expression shift into one of confusion. "...Hey, what's it you got on your wrist, Nick? It's all stiff..."

"It's nothing," I replied sharply, yanking away from Larry's grasp. "Now, how about a pizza place? I think I'd like something that isn't burgers this time."

I began walking toward the door, beckoning Larry to follow. He watched me for a moment with a puzzled look, but then he shrugged and started following. "Sure, pizza's good too."

I mentally let out a sigh of relief, glad that Larry decided not to press the point. Of all the long stories I could have told Larry, that was one I definitely would not have looked forward to telling...

---

"...and so that's when Edgey was able to prove the guy was guilty, thanks to my help!" Larry said through a mouth full of pizza. He was telling me the story of one of Edgeworth's investigations that he happened to be there for. "You should've seen it, Nick! You'd have been proud of us!"

"Please don't talk with your mouth full, Larry," I replied, rolling my eyes. "And yeah... sounds like an interesting story." Maybe I should ask Edgeworth about that one, I added silently. I have the feeling Larry's putting unnecessary emphasis on himself again.

"Right, right, sorry," Larry mumbled, his mouth still full of pizza. Thankfully, he swallowed before he decided to speak again. "So what about you, Nick? Been on any interesting cases while you were out traveling?"

"Ahaha, yeah," was my immediate response. "Some very interesting cases, indeed."

"Oooh." Larry leaned in, his interested apparently piqued. "What kind of cases?"

"Well..." I paused for a moment as I tried to decide how to answer that question. There was no way I could tell him the whole story and sound sane. "...One of them was a... well, I guess it was assault and theft?"

Larry raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, you 'guess'?"

"Let's just say it was a very unique case," I answered dryly. "It wasn't exactly easy to classify."

"Huh." Larry blinked. "So how'd that one go?"

"Well, they, uh... had to switch out the prosecutor a short ways into the trial." Again, I tried to figure out the easiest way to say this and still sound sane. "Because he had this... medical condition that he needed to tend to. Actually, it was Ms. von Karma who took the case after that..."

"Franzy?" Larry mumbled, taking a bite of his pizza as he said this. After a moment, he—with his mouth full, again—added, "Did you go to Germany or something?"

"Ah, no, I met her elsewhere," I told him. "I guess you could say it was something of an... international case."

Larry nodded as if he understood, but I doubt he really did... no, actually, I know he didn't. At any rate, after swallowing and wiping some pizza sauce off his mouth, he asked, "So Franzy replaced the other guy, then? Did you get whipped?"

"...Yes, and yes." I decided it was a good thing Larry didn't press me on 'the other guy.' Because, well... it was Edgeworth, and that would have taken a lot of unnecessary explaining. "In the end... well, they decided to let the defendant off relatively easily. I'm... not quite sure whether it counted as a guilty or a not guilty, though."

"Sounds neat!" Larry chirped, apparently not really listening. "So you saw Franzy, then? How's she doing?"

I raised an eyebrow. Since when did Larry care about Franziska, again? I'd forgotten. "...Well, she's, uh... I think she's working on a different case right now?" I paused in thought. "...Actually, I think one of the suspects from the... trial I just mentioned is the defendant in that one."

"Huh." Larry gave another cheery grin as he reached for a breadstick. "Well, if you see her again, tell her I say hi!"

"Um... sure." I blinked, watching as Larry struggled vainly to reach the breadsticks from his seat. "And, um, the other trial I worked on was a murder trial, but... that's a very long and complicated story."

"Yeesh, Nick, don't you ever handle any cases that aren't long and complicated?" Larry asked with a sly grin.

"Sure I... um... maybe?" I paused for a moment, trying to think of any cases I'd been on that I hadn't felt some form of hopeless despair during. Though I was having trouble concentrating, watching Larry's pitiful attempts to grab a breadstick lying just out of his reach. I let out a sigh. "...Larry, do you want me to pass you a breadstick?"

"Nope! That's okay, I can get it!" Larry piped up confidently. Suddenly, he lunged forward in a final, desperate attempt to grab his snack. All too naturally, in doing this, Larry bumped the table, knocking a cup of sauce meant for the breadsticks off the edge of the table...

...and right onto me. Wonderful.

"Larry!" I snapped, glancing down at my now-stained jacket. "I could have passed you one!"

"Oops! Sorry, Nick!" Larry said, cheerfully taking a bite of the breadstick he managed to grab. I narrowed my eyes a little, feeling a bit skeptical about how much penitence he actually had for this.

Regardless, I let out a sigh, picking the emptied cup of sauce off myself and standing up. "...I'm going to go and wash this off. I'll be right back."

"Alright!" Larry chirped again, also standing up. "I'll get a new cup of sauce!"

I sometimes wonder if you care about anyone other than yourself, Larry, I thought with a raised eyebrow. Oh well, what can you do. This is Larry Butz, after all.

I turned into the bathroom, tossing the cup into the garbage before locking the door. Thankfully it was a private bathroom with only one toilet... the kind only a small business like this pizza place would have. This would have been a lot more awkward with anyone else here.

As I walked toward the sink, I carefully unbuttoned my jacket, trying not to get more sauce on it than there already was. As I started to take off my jacket, I hesitated for a moment, realizing I was still wearing my clothes from the NTWF. Thank goodness no one else was here, but... it still felt strange doing this here in Los Angeles.

I sighed, trying to shake off the hesitance as I took off my jacket. If anyone else were there to see it, they instantly would have noticed the large hole in the back of my shirt. Not torn out, mind, it had actually been sewn that way. Designed by PFA for a very specific purpose.

And as I said, thankfully no one else was there to ask me to explain this purpose.

I proceeded to wash the jacket off in the sink, doing my best to remove the sauce stains. I even used some of the soap, hoping it would help. By the time I had finished, well... it still would probably need to be washed with some detergent, but at least the stain wasn't as noticeable.

...But now my jacket was sopping wet. I certainly wasn't about to go back out there without my jacket, but I couldn't exactly wear a wet jacket—I could get a cold or something. There had to be a way to dry it off... I instantly scanned the room for one of those electric hand dryers, but with no luck. All they had were paper towels, and those wouldn't work very well.

...Suddenly, I got an idea. A very crazy idea. Crazy enough that it just might work.

I carefully held the jacket in one hand, holding my other hand just over the large wet spot. Again, thankfully no one else was there, or else I would have had a long story to explain. I just had to be careful, and hope Ky's enchantment would hold up...

...And then, the faint smell of sandalwood.

---

"Oh there you are, Nick!" Larry chirped once I finally came out of the bathroom. He at some point had scooted the whole container of breadsticks toward himself and was now chowing down on them happily.

"Yeah." I sighed, sitting back down in my seat. "I think I got it mostly cleaned off."

"Well, it looks pretty good," Larry noted, glancing at the newly-cleaned jacket I was wearing. "Hey, how'd you clean it off without getting your jacket all wet? I always have to run water over my clothes when I spill stuff on them."

...Great. I should have known Larry would notice. "Oh, I, uh... dried it off. Using the hand dryer."

Thank goodness Larry didn't have a magatama, because I'm sure I had a lot of psyche-locks right then.

"Oooh, good idea!" Larry gave off another cheery grin. "I'll have to remember that one next time!"

I raised an eyebrow, picking up my slice of pizza. "...I take it spilling things on yourself at restaurants is a common event for you."

"Oh, yeah, this jacket's been spilled on lots of times," Larry said, indicating the jacket he was wearing. "Milkshakes, spaghetti sauce, mustard... it's practically tasted a gourmet buffet just from me wearing it!"

"...I see." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I bit into my pizza. I wouldn't quite qualify mustard and milkshakes as gourmet foods, Larry.

Larry nodded happily, grabbing another breadstick. "So, what was it we were talking about? Something about a murder case?"

I paused to finish chewing the pizza in my mouth. After swallowing, I told him, "...I'd rather not get into that right now, actually. Like I said, it was... complicated."

"Mmm." Larry tilted his head. I'm not sure whether it was in thought or in confusion. "Not even some basic stuff? Who the defendant was? Prosecutor?"

"You wouldn't know the defendant," I told him, "but the prosecutor... uh... was Ms. von Karma again, actually."

"Gosh, Nick, you just keep on running into ol' Franzy, don't you?" Larry said with a chuckle. "Sounds like all your cases out there were against her."

"...I guess they were." I blinked. "Huh. I never thought about it."

Larry grinned again. "So who won? You or Franzy?"

"Me. Eventually," was my response. "...It wasn't easy, though."

"Huh. Well, that's cool!" Larry finished off his breadstick and stood up with a stretch. I was inwardly grateful that he didn't decide to press me on that case any further. "I'm gonna be right back, 'kay? I need to use the little men's room."

"Alright." I sighed, taking another bite of my pizza as Larry headed back to the bathroom. It was certainly weird talking to Larry about that case. That was... a very surreal case. I mean, when you have ghosts as the defendant, culprit, and key witness... there was no easy way to explain that to, of all people, Larry.

Not to mention my role in the whole thing... besides being the defense attorney...

I shook my head and proceeded to eat the rest of my pizza. No need to think about that right now, I told myself. You're in Los Angeles now. There's no need to dwell on things like that.

It was a few minutes later when Larry returned from his trip to the bathroom, seemingly drying his hands off on his pants. "Hey, Nick, there's no hand dryers in that bathroom."

I raised an eyebrow. "...They have paper towels, you know."

"Well yeah," he said, "but you said you dried your jacket off using the hand dryer."

...Oh shoot.

"Oh, I, uh... must have gotten confused," I replied hastily. "I used the... air vent."

Larry sent me a confused look. "...Even I know the difference between an air vent and a hand dryer, Nick."

"I... must have been thinking of a different time, when I used a hand dryer." I forced a grin, standing up. "Well, I'm done with my pizza, maybe we should go?"

There was a silence. I groaned inwardly; I'm sure not even Larry was stupid enough not to notice me using that aversion technique twice in a row. And it probably didn't help that there was still a container half-full of breadsticks sitting on the table, either.

"...Sure, we can go," Larry eventually said, scooping said container off the table. His questioning tone was incredibly discomforting, I quickly decided, as I made for the exit. He followed shortly afterwards, sticking another breadstick into his mouth.

As I came outside and climbed onto my bike, I let out a sigh. This is going to be a long day...

---

"...So yeah, that's why I prefer waffles over pancakes!"

"Yeah." I nodded absently as Larry and I came up to my office door. I'd forgotten how we got into this conversation, but it was certainly better than certain other conversation topics we could have discussed.

"I mean, you agree, don't you, Nick?" Larry asked, cheery as ever as he followed me inside. "You can't deny the advantages of waffles over pancakes!"

"Yeah, sure." I reached down to unbutton my jacket for a moment before stopping myself. No, that wouldn't be a good idea. Instead I chose to adjust my jacket slightly, hoping Larry didn't notice. "Um... do you want to watch TV or something? I think some of Maya's Steel Samurai DVDs are still around here somewhere..."

"Ooh, that might be fun," Larry replied with a grin. And then, abruptly changing the topic, he asked, "Say Nick, didn't you say you needed to get that jacket washed better or something?"

There was a pause. A rather uncomfortable pause, and I would know. "...Well, I don't have to do it right now..."

"Well, no, but you don't still have to wear the dirty jacket, right?" The grin remained on his face, oblivious as usual.

"N-no, that's okay, I'm fine," I replied hastily, adjusting my jacket again and heading toward the TV. "Alright, um, I'm pretty sure the DVDs are around here somewhere... maybe you could help me find them?"

Larry's grin faded, turning into a look of confusion. "...Sure, Nick."

I almost cringed at the note of suspicion in his voice. Maybe because it was coming out of Larry, of all people. Either way, though, Larry chose to aid me in my search for Maya's DVDs. I was pretty sure they were around here somewhere... Maya left them at the office surprisingly often.

"Hey, uh..." came Larry's voice again, causing me to jump slightly. "...What's up with you lately, Nick? You've been acting all weird today."

I tried to force myself not to grimace as I looked back at Larry. "...Wh-what do you mean?"

"I dunno, you just seem kinda... cagey," he told me, an eyebrow raised in a puzzled manner. "First whatever's on your wrist and then that thing with your jacket..."

"I... I don't know what you're talking about," I said hastily, digging around for those DVDs. They had to be around here somewhere. They were a convenient conversation shifter.

"...Are you sure?" Larry asked. "You seem kinda—"

"It's nothing, really! Oh hey, I found them!" I forced a grin, holding up a box set of Steel Samurai DVDs. "Well, some of them, anyway. Which episode do you want to watch?"

There was a silence. A very tense silence. It was everything I could do just to keep the fake grin plastered on my face. Not that it helped much—I think even Larry could see right through it.

"Come on, Nick, what is it you're not telling me?" he insisted, walking toward me. "Wait, are you not taking off your jacket because of the thing on your wrist?"

"L-Larry, please..." I found myself taking a step backwards, wary as Larry approached me—realizing only too late how suspicious that looked. This was going from bad to worse.

"Seriously though, now you've got me all curious," Larry piped up, coming right up to me. "What's the big deal? Is it some kind of government spy device or something?"

"What? No!" I snapped, turning and moving toward the TV. "L-Larry, I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Aw, come on, Nick! Tell me!" Larry whined, suddenly reaching out and grabbing me by the wrist. The left wrist this time, but still. "Please?"

I grimaced, trying to struggle out of his grasp, but he just clung tighter. "No!"

"Why not? I wanna know!"

"Larry, please, just leave me alone!"

"Ow!"

As the cry reached my ears, all I could do was drop the DVDs in shock. It had happened all too fast—in my moment of blind panic, acting upon pure reflex, I'd made a really stupid mistake. And suddenly Larry was reeling back, startled. Pained.

"What... what was that?!" he managed, glancing up from his hand at me. His eyes were wide, clearly very startled and confused.

"S-sorry! Sorry!" I yelped, stumbling backwards in my own shock. I could not believe I just did that. I did not mean to do that.

"'Sorry'? What did you do?!" Larry yelped in turn. "That... I just burned my hand on something!"

"I-I really didn't mean it!" I stammered. "I'm sorry!"

"Nick, what is going on?!"

In a sudden flood of realization, I fell silent, staring at Larry with mouth agape. I had just unintentionally done something there was no sane way of explaining. And there was no way to take it back now.

I had just burned Larry. Even worse, I had already apologized for it.

Noticing this, Larry's face shifted to a rare expression of concern. "...Nick?"

"Uh... L-Larry, I..." I stuttered, trying to decide what to say. It seemed so pointless to try and hide the truth from Larry after that, and yet...

"...This... this doesn't have something to do with the thing on your wrist, does it?" Larry wondered.

"...No. I mean, well, kind of...? Augh..." I began to massage my temples as I worked the words through my mind. There was really no easy way to say this. "...Larry, would you believe a word I said if I told you?"

Larry seemed even more confused. "...Of course I would, Nick. What are you talking about?"

"Well I..." I managed, before my voice trailed off. I grimaced slightly before speaking again. "...Alright, fine, if you really want to know... but first, you have to promise me not to tell anyone, okay? Don't tell anyone."

"Um... okay?" Larry blinked. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

"I mean it, Larry. Not a soul."

"Yeah, yeah! My lips are sealed! Now tell me already!"

"...Alright then." I let out a sigh. "Where do I even begin...?"

"Um..." Larry tilted his head in thought. "...Maybe you could start with what's on your wrist?"

"...Okay. Fair enough place to start, I suppose..."

I put a hand to my wrist, pausing for a moment in hesitance. But as I glanced up at Larry's interested face, I knew there was no turning back now. I let out another sigh as I slowly rolled up my sleeve, revealing what I was wearing under it.

On the outside, it was really nothing all that interesting. Just a bracelet—or a bracer, I guess you could call it—made of bronze-colored metal, and fitting snugly under my sleeve. There was a clasp I could undo so I could open it and take it off, but, well... I wasn't going to do that just yet.

And, of course, Larry seemed confused. "...A bracelet? Where'd you get that from?"

"Someone gave it to me, actually," I told him. "And I don't know where she got it."

Larry brightened. "Wait, 'she'?"

"No, Larry." I rolled my eyes, already having an idea what was on Larry's mind. I knew enough to know that the answer was 'no,' at any rate.

"Aw," Larry moaned in disappointment. Then there was a pause, and he tilted his head in thought. "Wait, so then why did you get so worked up about it when all it is is a bracelet?"

...Well, here went nothing. "Because it's, er... it's magical, Larry."

"...Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"...It means exactly what I just said," I replied flatly. "I didn't want to tell you about it because it's a magical bracelet."

"That... that sounds kinda cool." Larry got an eager look in his eyes as he walked closer to me, taking a closer look at the bracelet. "Some kinda magic trick, then? What's it do?"

"No, not a magic trick, I mean actual magic," I told him, pulling my wrist away from Larry before he could touch the bracelet—or worse, try to take it off. "...And explaining what it does would be a... very long story."

Larry paused in confusion, before looking up at me with a grin. "Well if you don't want to explain it, then how about showing me?"

"...I was afraid you'd ask that." I sighed again. I'd been asked to do this so many times, and Larry didn't even realize what he was asking. "I'd, er... I'd rather not..."

"Aw come on, Nick!" Larry insisted. "Why not?"

"It... it's a really long story," was my reply.

"Pleeeease?"

I sent Larry an exasperated look, only to be greeted with Larry's big pleading eyes. Instantly, I was reminded of the countless times Maya had given me the exact same look. Finally, I caved in with a sigh. "Alright, alright... I suppose it's the only way I'd get you to believe me, anyway..."

I glanced around the room for a moment, making sure there were no windows nearby that people could see me from. Once I was satisfied, I reached down and started unbuttoning my jacket. Larry seemed especially confused at this, but I pretended not to notice.

Not that it mattered much. "...Uh, Nick? What are you doing?" he asked me. "I thought you were going to show me a magic trick..."

"This is part of it," I told him succinctly, handing the jacket to him. "Hold this, please."

Larry took my jacket, but looked utterly perplexed about it. Not that I could blame him at all, but it didn't make this any better. "...Wait, huh? Why's there a big hole in your shirt, Nick?"

I decided not to bother answering that, instead just moving to take off the bracelet. Before I did, though, I paused, looking over at Larry. "...You're going to want to move, Larry."

"...Huh? Why?"

"You're in the way. You'll need to move."

"...In the way for what?" Larry sidestepped, despite his obvious confusion. Made more obvious because he moved in all the wrong direction. "What kind of magic trick is this?"

"No, really, you need to move." I grabbed Larry by the shoulders, firmly guiding him out of the way. Once I was satisfied, I reached down to unclasp my bracelet. Well, here goes...

"...I don't get it," Larry stated. "Why do I need to be over he— WHOA!"

Larry's startled reaction was well-founded—in fact, I had a similar reaction the first time I saw them. As soon as I took off my bracelet, its spell was lifted, and in a swirl of magic, I reverted back to what was now my actual form. Sprouting out of my back, going cleverly through the hole in my shirt, were two large, fiery-red wings.

Yes, you heard me. Wings.

"H-how..." Larry's mind, of course, appeared to have been completely blown. "How did you...?!"

I sent Larry a rather matter-of-fact stare, folding my wings in slightly. "I told you you wouldn't believe me."

"Wait... wait, so these are real?" Larry asked, reaching over and stroking the feathers on my right wing. His eyes widened further in surprise—no doubt the feathers gave off a soothing warmth, judging from what people had told me. "So you're like... some kind of bird?"

"Yes, Larry, they're real," I answered bluntly. "And they're phoenix wings."

"...Phoenix?" Larry looked over at me and blinked. "As in, the legendary bird with all the fire?"

I held out my hand, a small fireball forming in it. "Yes."

Larry jumped slightly as I did that, but then his expression shifted to a big wide grin. "Whoa-hoa, Nick, that... that's awesome! How did...?"

"How did this happen?" I lowered my hand again, dismissing the fireball. "Well... I didn't lie when I said I'd been traveling. What I didn't say was where. So... where I went was a place called the NTWF."

"What's that?" Larry asked. "National Traveling Weirdos Foundation?"

I raised an eyebrow. It might as well be, what with all the things that happen there, but... "...Uh, no. It's a... well. It's a different world, Larry."

"A different world?" Larry's eyes widened in intrigue. "You mean like some sort of alternate dimension?"

"...Sort of," I told him. "It exists on a different level of time and logic... thus things like this are allowed to happen." I gestured to the wings with a sigh.

"Oh wow, Nick, that's so cool." Larry grinned, walking around me and examining the wings some more. He seemed rather open to the concept, but then again, this was Larry Butz. "Wait, but how did you get there? And why was Franzy there?"

"Well, I was summoned there by a girl name PFA." I crossed my arms in thought. "As was Franziska, and... a lot of other people, really."

"...'PFA'? What's with all the acronyms?" Larry wondered, tilting his head in thought. But he didn't seem particularly interested in that train of thought, as he soon switched back to an eager grin, changing the topic. "Well, it sounds really cool, Nick! You've gotta tell me all about it!"

"...Well, alright." I sighed, putting a hand on my hip. "But only if you're prepared for what you're about to hear."

"Sure I am! Lay it on me!"

"...If you say so..."

And with that, Larry and I sat down and went into a long conversation about the NTWF. A magical place that had become so integrated into my life by now that it was apparently nigh-on impossible to just sweep under the rug.

Well, I guess that's what you get when you become a literal phoenix.

---

"...something about a stronger spiritual aura, I think... I forget what exactly they said."

"Whoaaa. So you can actually see dead people there?"

"...Yes, Larry. You can see dead people." I rolled my eyes. "Not just ghosts, either. Zombies."

"Zombies?!" Larry yelped, leaning in interestedly. "Did you fight in the zombie apocalypse, Nick?! Phoenix fire or whatever?"

"...Well, I suppose if you count a courtroom battle as 'fighting.'" I sighed, fiddling with my bracelet thoughtfully. "And I did technically become a phoenix during that one zombie invasion..."

"A courtroom battle?" Larry mused. "Wait, wait! That wasn't one of those cases you were telling me about at the pizza place, was it?"

"Yes, actually," I admitted. "Remember what I said about the crime being hard to classify? Well... he was prosecuting the zombie for eating his brain."

Larry just about fell out of his chair from the double-take. "You mean the prosecutor was a zombie?!"

"...For a brief stint of time, yes. He's since been cured of it, though." To myself, I added, Just don't ask who it was, Larry. Please.

"Whoaaaa." Larry gave a big grin, apparently quite enthused about all this. "Say, what about Edgey? Any cool magic things happen to him?"

...I resisted every urge to groan and slam my head into something.

"Well, uh..." I said instead. "...I can think of a number of things that happened to him, but I don't think he'd exactly want me talking about it."

There was a pause. Larry blinked. "Er... okay then? No cool new powers or anything?"

"...Well, I guess if you count those swordfighting lessons he's been taking."

"...Edgey? Swordfighting?" Larry's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes, Larry." I sighed, leaning back into the couch. Though since I hadn't bothered putting my bracelet back on yet, it was more like leaning back into my wings. "For self-defense, mainly."

"Huh... sounds neat," Larry admitted, a thoughtful look on his face. He was probably trying to picture what Edgeworth looked like with a sword, if I had to guess. At any rate, he soon gave up and looked at me with his usual cheery smile. "So what else? What about Franzy?"

"...Franziska?" I paused for a moment to ponder that. "Um... I seem to remember something about breathing underwater...? I'm not sure, though. Oh, but then... um... you know Detective Gumshoe, right?"

"Gumshoe? You mean that police guy that always hangs around Edgey?" Larry asked.

"Yeah." I nodded. "Well, he's a werewolf now."

"Whoa!" Larry yelped. "So he turns into a wolf under the full moon and stuff?"

"Basically, yes," I told him. Which would apply more if we still had a moon, but...

"That's awesome," Larry proclaimed, grinning as usual. "Man, Nick, this NTWF place sounds cool. Maybe I can go there with you sometime!"

"...Uh." I blinked, not quite sure how to respond to that. "I... guess if you want to? I mean, I think people have gone there just through sheer willpower, so..."

"Awesome!" Larry gave one of his cheery thumbs ups, and I was suddenly reminded of PFA for some reason. "It sounds like a blast!"

"Yeah, sure," I said, raising an eyebrow. "Not all of it's that awesome, mind you. There's a lot of mad science and Dark spirits around there, so—"

Suddenly, without warning, I heard the door burst open. I probably jumped a foot, hurriedly putting my bracelet back on. Another swirl of magic, and my wings faded away, soon completely gone. I stood from my seat and sharply held out my hand toward Larry, who was watching me with wide, interested eyes.

"My jacket, please," I grumbled. Inwardly, I berated myself for not locking the door, or else for not putting my bracelet back on sooner.

"Oh. Uh... right." Larry scrambled to remember where he'd left my jacket, before noticing it was on the arm of the chair he was in. He then picked it up and handed it to me. I gratefully accepted it, hastily putting it back on as I went to check who was at the door.

"Hey, Nick!" came the voice, as a familiar figure stepped into the office. "Are you here?"

All I could do was sigh as I realized who it was. "...Oh. Maya. Welcome back."

Maya looked over at me, her usual cheery smile on her face. "Oh, there you are, Nick! For a moment, I..." Her voice trailed off, her expression shifting to a more curious one.

"...What?" I asked, before thinking to follow her gaze down to my hands. It occurred to me that she had probably noticed me putting on my jacket. I confirmed it when I glanced back up, catching sight of the glint in Maya's eyes.

"Ooooh, Nick," she said, an eager tone to her voice. "Have you been practicing?"

"Wh-what? No!" I yelped. "I, er..." I pointed back toward the room I had just come from. "It was his fault!"

As if on cue, Larry followed me out of said room soon after, waving cheerily at Maya. "Heya!"

"Oh, hi!" Maya chirped, before turning her attention back to me. "Wait, so you told Larry?"

"I kind of had to," I replied, narrowing my eyes in exasperation.

"He was just telling me all about that NTWF place and the stuff that happens there!" Larry added helpfully, giving another thumbs up.

"And he showed you the wings?" Maya asked eagerly.

"Yep!" was Larry's quick response.

"A-ha! I knew it!" Maya gave a cheery nod, then looked up at me with those taunting eyes of hers. "See, I knew you had it in you, Nick! Usually you need me to convince you, but now you did it all by yourself! I'm so proud of you!"

"What?! Maya!" was all I could say to that.

"Aw, Nick!" she continued. "We're gonna get you into the whole phoenix thing in no time!"

"Yeah, Nick!" Larry added with a grin. "If I had wings and cool fire powers, I'd be using them all the time!"

"Wait, hey!" I yelped in response. "Since when did you get involved in this, Larry?" Mentally, I added, Not to mention Larry with the power to burn anything is just...

"He just knows what's best for you, Nick!" Maya chirped, interrupting my train of thought and tugging on my sleeve.

"Yeah, come on, Nick!" Larry agreed. "Live a little!"

"H-hey!" I roughly pulled my arm away from Maya, trying to push past the two and get to my desk. "I've got work to do!"

"Oh, Nick!"

I managed to make it to my desk, sitting down with a sigh. "Look, guys... why don't you go watch some Steel Samurai? Your DVDs are still back there, Maya..."

"Oh right!" Larry chirped in reply. "Yeah, we were gonna watch that, weren't we?"

"Ooh! That could be fun!" Maya said in turn. "Come on, you can watch episode one-forty-eight with me!"

"Sounds awesome!" Larry eagerly followed Maya into the other room. "By the way, did you know I actually was the Steel Samurai once?"

"No way! Really?!"

"Yep! And Edgey was there, and he was working on this case..."

I rolled my eyes, tuning out of what Maya and Larry were saying so I could work on my paperwork. Even after all that had happened lately, I still had normal work to do. And frankly, I liked it that way—I don't know if I would have made it if my life went completely into the realms of unsalvageably crazy. Thank goodness for PFA giving me the bracelet.

At the same time, though... it's hard to say I can completely regret it all happening. Like I said, I've met so many new people, made so many friends... I guess all in all, it all pretty well balances out.

Of course, now there was the possibility of Larry coming to the NTWF, also...

"...and this was the Steel Samurai's Early Summer Rain Jab!"

I jumped at the sound of things being knocked over in the other room. "Larry!" I shouted. "What are you doing in there?!"

"Don't worry, Nick!" Larry shouted back. "It's all good! Nothing broke! ...I think!"

I let out a groan, pushing myself out of my seat again and heading into the other room. I was immediately greeted with the sight of Larry, wielding a broom in one hand, and using his other hand to try and set upright a lamp he had knocked over. I glanced at Maya, silently wondering what Larry was doing with my broom, but the only response I got from her was a sheepish grin.

All I could do was shake my head as I went over to help Larry put everything back in place, knowing that he'd probably just mess up somehow if I didn't. Well, I thought to myself, I'm sure Larry would fit right in at a place like the NTWF.