attorneyatlol | [RL: - Thursday, February 19; Midday | Phoenix; Tyki; Edgeworth later?]

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Current Location: Wright and Co. Law Offices - Los Angeles, CA

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[RL: - Thursday, February 19; Midday | Phoenix; Tyki; Edgeworth later?]

Phoenix stared blankly at his computer monitor, idly tapping his pen against the desk. Thus far, the offices of Wright and Co. Law had been relatively quiet. It was a welcome change from the last few weeks, which had seen a steady flow of potential clients (a few had panned out, some of whom even paid), but while he was still up to his neck in debt, it was nice to have what seemed like a long-awaited break. In fact, looking out the window where he could see the Gatewater and the fading evening light behind it, he thought he might lock up early. There were only a couple hours left in the day, after all, and people rarely stumbled in any later than 2pm on a Wednesday, anyway.

Standing up, he lifted his arms above his head, wincing until he heard a satisfying pop in his back and then dropped his arms with a sigh. The whole being an average lawyer in Los Angeles thing was starting to take its toll on him. He couldn’t wait to get home, kick his shoes off, and enjoy some mindless television on the couch, a soda and warm TV dinner in hand…

…Or maybe not.

He nearly jumped at the sudden appearance of a gangly figure standing awkwardly in his doorway. Clearing his throat, he quickly smoothed his shirt and suppressed a sigh. (There went the rest of his day…)

Still, he smiled earnestly and said, “Hi,” holding out his hand in greeting. This was a rare occasion; people usually barged in and did the talking for him. “I’m Phoenix Wright.”

The man didn’t say anything in return. As a matter of fact, the man had yet to acknowledge Phoenix’s presence at all, which was a bit unsettling and caused Phoenix to frown. His arm sagged a little.

“Er, did you need a lawyer…?”

The man lifted his head slightly, then took an unsteady step toward Phoenix. He was shaky and he was limping, and his face appeared to be twisted in pain. He took another step and muttered, “I need… I need, I need…”

Phoenix swallowed and stared for a moment, his hand going for the phone. This guy didn’t look good at all… “Are you okay?” he asked, his brows furrowed. “Do you need me to call someone?”

“I need... I need to…” The man stopped about a foot away from Phoenix’s desk and dropped his head into his hands, shaking it back and forth. “I need to…”

“Hey…” Phoenix reached out as if to steady the man, but the distance between them was too great; he held his hand up in a placating gesture while his other hand grabbed the phone and lifted the receiver to his ear. “Just… hang on a second, okay?” He tried to sound reassuring. “I’ll get some help.”

Then the man suddenly looked up. For a brief moment, they locked eyes, but before Phoenix could possibly know what was happening, he suddenly found himself staring down a thick barrel aimed right at his face… a thick barrel that was coming out of the man’s forehead straight through his skin. Phoenix stepped back and dropped the receiver. “What--!?”

There was a strange sound, like the cocking of a gun, but Phoenix didn’t wait around to see what it was. It was a good thing, too; he jumped to the side just in time to hear the bookshelf with his law books (Mia’s formidable, mocking law books) be blown to smithereens, the aftershock of which nearly sent him sprawling. Without looking back, he scrambled to the bathroom and immediately slammed the door shut, already fishing for his cell phone. He an idea of what was going on, but God, what could he do?

Dialing without thinking, he used his free hand to pile whatever he could in front of the door (it wasn’t much: a wastebasket, a few towels, and a mop) which probably wouldn’t be very effective, but at least it was something. While the phone rang on the other end, he eyed the small window above the toilet. There was no way he’d be able to make it out of there, and he was on the second floor, anyway. Which, in short, meant he’d basically trapped himself. Fantastic.

He couldn’t hear anything on the other side of the door, but that probably didn’t mean anything. He stayed as far away as he could, wedging himself between the toilet and the sink, and proceeded to make a phone post.

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Tyki nodded and crossed the room, holding out a hand to help Phoenix up. "It's gone outside," he said. "Since the Akuma can't world-hop, none of them know I'm just rounding them up to destroy them all at once."

He smiled at Phoenix, a little bit cocky but without any hint of blood-thirstiness. "You all right? You were lucky to get away from it."

His nerves somewhat eased by the words, Phoenix exhaled and grabbed Tyki’s hand, hoisting himself up. “I’m fine,” he said, though it was clear he was still shaken. He warily glanced around as if the fact that he was hiding in a tiny bathroom from a monster that could have very easily blown a hole through the door and killed him was just sinking in.

He shook the thought away and looked at Tyki, a bit dazed. “They can’t world-hop? Then how’d they…?”

Tyki hung onto Phoenix's hand as the man gained his feet. He looked a little dizzy and he wasn't sure if he was fully stable on his feet. He didn't mind, though, and his lips remained curved in a smile.

"No, the Earl opened doors from the Ark and sent them through," he explained. "I've borrowed Saguru's car to get to you, instead of using the Ark gateways like I usually do, since I don't want to alert the Earl to what I'm doing." He glanced towards the door. "I'm not sure you want to stay here. Do you want me to bring you to Gaia? The gateway's been sealed and I've cleared the city of Akuma now."

Phoenix withdrew his hand and held onto the sink to balance himself, nodding as Tyki spoke. He didn’t know anything about the Ark or its inner-workings, but those were questions he could save for later. Right now, he needed to get a grip and figure out what he was going to do.

He glanced down at this phone and frowned; no signal, of course. What he really would have liked to do was make sure Edgeworth was all right. With a sigh, he looked back up. “Aren’t there Akuma on Gaia, too?”

"Not anymore," Tyki said, flashing a grin in Phoenix's direction. Maybe he hadn't been clear just now. "I killed them all. The gate's been sealed, which means no more can come through. Apparently Cross managed to seal all the gates before he--" He raised both hands and made exaggerated quotations in the air. "--died. Again."

Phoenix didn’t think he’d ever understand how someone could speak so nonchalantly about killing something, even something as obviously threatening as the akuma. Tyki’s grin didn’t make it any easier. He turned his gaze away, letting go of the sink to run a hand through his hair, but he paused at Tyki’s next words and immediately turned back.

“Died?” It was obvious the other man didn’t believe such a thing, and when Phoenix stopped to think about it, he was sure Cross had been assumed dead before. Not that long ago, if he recalled correctly, and not too long before one ‘Algernon Moncreiff’ had surfaced on his world. Still…

“How do you know? What happened?”

Tyki smirked faintly at Phoenix's reaction. He didn't believe it, especially since he knew some of Grave of Maria's abilities, and she had been singing at the time.

"As usual, the community chose to interfere and show us something distressing," he said. "A video post that depicted him fighting Akuma and then a building falling on him."

He gestured dismissively. "I'm sure he'll be back."

Phoenix blinked. “…Ah.” It was probably best not to dwell on it, he thought; it wasn’t as if he hadn’t encountered stranger things, after all. He glanced down at his cell phone again and sighed. Still no signal…

In an effort to pull himself together, he turned his attention to the door and unlocked it as he kicked away his makeshift barricade, casting Tyki a warning glance as if daring him to laugh again. Cautiously, he turned the knob.

“So… any idea how many akuma are here?” he asked, scanning his office to make sure nothing was there. “In the city, I mean.”

Tyki smirked, but didn't laugh a second time. The office was trashed, since the akuma had knocked things over searching for Phoenix, but there were no dangers. Tyki stepped in front of Phoenix to lead the way, considering his next move.

The problem was, there would be a group of akuma downstairs waiting for him. And mistakes could be made.

"Not a clue just yet," he said. "There were a couple dozen on Gaia and probably a dozen in Ekoda. I've spent a lot more time on Gaia than in Ekoda or here, so maybe that's significant."

He glanced at the lawyer. "I've told the akuma downstairs to gather together and wait for me. It makes things easier. Waiting for a call?" he added. He'd noticed Phoenix glancing at his cellphone, as if he were waiting for it to ring.

“I’m… waiting for the signal to come back,” Phoenix distractedly replied as he surveyed the damage. He stepped into the office and immediately went for the bookcase, which laid in shambles on the floor, the books scattered all around. He bent down and picked one up, but the pages promptly fell out of their binding and hit the floor with a thud. He frowned. Those books were Mia’s. That made them irreplaceable.

“Cross spent a few weeks here,” he finally said, dropping the book cover as he turned to Tyki. “Would that have any bearing on it?”

"It could be," Tyki said. "I honestly don't know how the Earl decided where to send them. I thought at first he was going after Cross, but I don't think it's just that. He seems to be going after worlds associated with myself and Jasdebi as well."

His face was set as he spoke, his voice as serious as Phoenix had ever heard him.

"I think you should come with me, Phoenix. As my prisoner, so the akuma outside don't suspect anything."

Phoenix frowned at that. “Won’t they suspect something, anyway?” he asked. “Seeing as how you were supposed to kill me and all.”

"It'll be better than if you follow me out," Tyki said. "Akuma are pretty stupid, and they really like killing humans."

He cocked his head at Phoenix, flashing a smile. "If you're my prisoner, they'll know you're not to be touched until I say. If it's not obvious... a stray bullet could hit you, even if they think I'll yell at them afterwards."

Well, that was enough to convince Phoenix, although he couldn’t help the lingering doubt in the back of his mind. Tyki was not someone he was willing to give his trust to, but he was acutely aware that he had very little choice in the matter right now. Besides, Tyki did come to help him…

“So what do I have to do?” he sighed.

Tyki was still trying to figure that out, actually, but he didn't want to look uncertain under the circumstances.

He turned towards Phoenix and considered him for a moment. Then he reached up and undid the cravat around his neck. "I'll tie your hands," he said. "That ought to be enough. We'll go down, and you get in Saguru's's car and wait for me."

“…Er, alright,” Phoenix said, a bit uncertain, though he supposed it could have been worse. After one last look at his cell phone, he slipped it in his pocket, thus freeing his hands to be tied (the irony wasn’t lost on him, but it went unacknowledged all the same).

Tyki was frankly rather surprised that Phoenix was so willing to trust him. Gratified, but surprised.

He stretched out the cravat and bound Phoenix's hands together in front of him, leaving a bit of room between his hands, which he gripped like a handle for a moment before letting go.

"Follow me," he murmured, his gold eyes alight with mischief as he turned away to head for the office door.

Phoenix wasn’t sure he liked that look, and he immediately wondered if he’d made a mistake in agreeing to this. Not that he could think of anything better, but…

Taking a deep breath, he hesitantly followed. “I need to get a hold of Edgeworth,” he said. “He’s been sick, and I don’t think he knows what’s going on.”

"Is that why you keep looking at your phone?" Tyki asked, opening the door and heading for the elevator.

He wasn't nearly as hot about the idea of rescuing Edgeworth, but he wasn't about to say no, either. Edgeworth was obviously important to Phoenix and though it was unlikely that anything Tyki did would make much of a positive impression on the prosecutor, it wasn't worth alienating Phoenix again just because they didn't get along.

"We'll go get him after I take out the akuma in the immediate area."

Phoenix nodded and continued to follow. “I just want to make sure he’s all right.”

As they walked through the small hallway that led to the elevator, he looked through one of the windows along the wall, but he couldn’t make out what was going on outside. Hopefully nothing, if Tyki had just told the akuma to wait, but he knew that was probably wishful thinking.

“Have they… done a lot of damage?” he wondered.

"It looked like they'd killed a couple of people before I got here," Tyki said. "But the street was pretty empty. I think most people are hiding."

The elevator rose and opened in front of them and he stepped into the chamber.

"Hopefully they won't have done too much more damage while I was up here."

“Hopefully,” he echoed.

Once inside the elevator, he lapsed into silence, dropping his gaze to the frayed carpet below while he contemplated the situation. Phoenix certainly didn’t harbor any delusions of grandeur, and despite what some of his friends seemed to think, he didn’t believe he could change the world one client at a time (though, it was a nice thought…), but he’d be damned if he said his inability to do anything didn’t bother him. Right now, his only hope was that Tyki would honor his word and do whatever he could to protect the city. His city.

…Good Lord, when had he developed such a hero complex?

Tyki was well-acquainted with the people around him feeling such frustration. Zechs was notorious for becoming obsessed and disturbed when something dangerous was going on that he couldn't do anything about, so Tyki was alert to the signs.

"You ready?" he asked as the elevator opened. "Feel free to fight me a little. It'll make it look more realistic."

Then he grabbed Phoenix by the sash he'd tied around his wrists and hauled him bodily out of the elevator, a manic, sadistic expression coming to his features.

“Uh…” Literally dragged from his thoughts, Phoenix complied by instinctively digging his heels into the ground to avoid falling over.

He supposed he was as ready as he’d ever be considering he had no clue what to expect.

Tyki glanced back at him with an evil smirk. "Be good, Phoenix," he purred. "And you won't get hurt."

"Probably."

He pushed the doors open and stepped out into the streetlamp-lit darkness.

Huge bulbous shapes hung over the street, drifting this way and that like freakish, terrifying balloons covered in gun barrels. There was one smaller standing standing on top of a parked car. Unlike the others, it was vaguely human-shaped its head shaped like a pumpkin, complete with grinning, freakish mask. Its hands were long and clawed and its feet looked like cloven hooves.

"Noah-sama!" it called, waving frantically. "I gathered all the ones I could."

Tyki jerked Phoenix forward again, hoping to make him stumble a bit. "Good," he said. "I'm taking this one to the Duke."

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