TurnaboutCola, Chapter 2: A Trick, a New Friend, and a Murder

As Michael takes up a new post in the Ace Attorney universe, the unthinkable happens to Paul...

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This feature was submitted by GameCola superfan Diana Gray (aka Diana141). Check out Chapter 1 here.


Diana came to in the pitch dark. She waved her hand in front of her face, but she couldn’t see it. Hesitantly shifting around, she tried to get a feel for her surroundings. Her foot connected with something soft and distinctly human-like and she let out a small squeak of surprise. “Hello?” she whispered nervously. “Who’s there?”

She could make out the faint outline of the person as they groaned and put a hand to their head. “Wh-What happened?” a familiar voice asked shakily.

“Michael!” she breathed in relief. She reached around, feeling for a light switch of some kind. Her fingers finally came into contact with a string and she pulled. Golden light flooded the room, which appeared to be a supply closet of some kind. “Are you okay?” Diana asked, dropping to her knees next to Michael.

“Yeah, fine,” he replied, pushing himself up into a sitting position and looking around. “Where are we?”

“Well, I think we’re in a closet of some kind,” Diana said absently. “But why? And how did we get here? And where are the others?” Michael shrugged. He didn’t know the answers to any of the questions the teen was asking. He stood up.

“So we’re going to have to work out a way to get out of here…” He began to pace around the cramped space. “What would Nancy Drew do? Or Professor Layton?” He began to get excited. “Or maybe… we need LOGIC TI-“

“Or we could try the door,” Diana interrupted, marching over to the door and jiggling the knob. It turned easily and she poked her head out into the hallway. It was tiled in alternating light blue and dark blue tiles and the walls were lined with mahogany doors, each with its own golden nameplate. Diana found it unnervingly familiar.

Seeing that no one was coming, she took a step out, her sparkling silver Toms not making a sound on the tile floor. She turned around to look for Michael. He was still in the closet, looking a little crestfallen. “Are you coming?” she asked. He nodded quickly and followed her as she cautiously explored the hallway. “I just can’t shake this feeling,” she muttered, barely loud enough for him to hear. “This place looks really familiar.”

“I know,” Michael replied, then almost ran into her as she stopped short after turning a corner.

“No way,” she breathed. There was a basketball hoop pressed against the wall. “It can’t be,” she said slowly, walking towards it.

“Diana, wait!” Michael called, hurrying after her.

“How many office buildings with a basketball hoop in the hallway can there be?” she said, her voice almost hysterical now. She looked at the door to the left. There was no nameplate on it, just a slightly lighter rectangular mark that indicated a nameplate had been recently taken off. She almost stopped breathing as she looked toward the next door. “Michael,” she murmured. “I think I know where we are.” Right as she said that, the door she had her eye on opened and Diana just about had a heart attack at the figure that emerged.

“Oh my goodness,” Michael said in shock.

“M-m-m,” Diana stammered, not loud enough for anyone to hear. The man was leaning back into the office he had come out of, saying something to someone inside. This gave the pair ample time to examine him. Diana’s eyes dropped to the floor, slowly making their way up. Black dress shoes, suit in a deep shade of burgundy, white ruffled cravat around his neck. Her gaze moved to his face, which was now facing them: black hair parted in the middle, piercing gray eyes which were focused on them, and mouth turned down into a small frown.

“Miles Edgeworth,” Diana whispered, her hazel eyes wide. He looked the pair up and down. Diana blushed slightly; in their casual clothes, they didn’t exactly look like they should be running around what was undoubtedly the Prosecutor’s Office.

“Who are you?” he asked. His voice sent shivers up Diana’s spine; it sounded exactly like she’d always imagined.

“Um…” Brilliant, Diana, brilliant. It seemed like Michael was as lost for words as she was, for there was no sound from behind her.

“Miles, perhaps they’re the new prosecutor and assistant we were told about this morning,” came a woman’s voice and Diana turned pale.

“Oh my goodness,” she said, echoing Michael’s earlier exclamation, as a petite woman with raven black hair and sparkling gray eyes exited the office, carefully closing the door behind her. She looked and sounded exactly like Diana had imagined her, even the small scar on her forehead and the professional business clothes fit the image in the young author’s head. She practically had tears in her eyes from seeing her creation living and breathing right in front of her.

“Diana, who’s that?” Michael whispered to her as the prosecutor turned to speak with the young woman.

“That’s Madeline, my OC,” Diana muttered back frantically. Seeing Michael’s slightly confused expression, she continued. “My own character, and no, she’s not from Metroid, okay?”

Michael smirked, he remembered that podcast. Before he could comment, Miles Edgeworth turned back to face them. “So, are you the new prosecutor and legal aide?” he asked them. Diana turned to look at Michael briefly before meeting the prosecutor’s cold gaze.

“Yes, sir,” she replied. Michael made a sound of surprise and the teen stepped on his foot to shut him up before continuing. “I’m Diana Gray, legal aide, and this is Michael Gray, prosecutor.”

“A pleasure,” Edgeworth replied, giving them a small bow. “I am Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, and this is my legal aide, Madeline Brent.” Madeline nodded in greeting.

“I must ask, are you two related? You have the same last name,” she asked, smiling.

“No!” they both replied at the same time, then looked embarrassed. “Or at least not that we know of,” Diana clarified, looking at Michael again and grinning.

“Also, Miss Gray, have we met before? Your name seems oddly familiar,” Madeline said, giving the other woman a searching look.

Diana’s eyes grew wide. “Um, no, Miss Brent, I don’t believe we have met,” she said carefully. Madeline nodded and looked lost in thought for a moment.

Edgeworth spoke again. “Prosecutor Gray, Miss Gray, your office is this one right here.” He pointed to the office that Diana knew had once belonged to Jacques Portsman and stifled a laugh. Oh, the irony.

Edgeworth beckoned to Michael to step to the side. “Yes, sir?” Michael said. He was still a little stunned by the situation. Were they really in the world of Ace Attorney? One look at the man in front of him told him that this was very real.

“I have been placed in charge of your training at this office, so come and talk to me if you have any questions,” he said curtly. Michael nodded. “But if you’ll excuse us, we have a meeting to attend.” He called to Madeline, who bid them goodbye, then the prosecutor and assistant disappeared down the hallway. Michael turned to Diana, who was looking after them.

“Diana, what have you gotten us into?” he asked, frowning a little. He was clueless on how to be a prosecutor! She turned to him and winked.

“When in the Ace Attorney universe, do as they do,” she said, opening the door to their new office. “Let’s make ourselves at home, Prosecutor Gray.”


Nathaniel opened his eyes abruptly. He sat up and looked around. He appeared to be in the middle of a park on a grassy hill. Christian, Matt, and Meteo were lying on their backs, apparently still unconscious. He wondered where they were and what had happened to the storm. Groans next to him caused him to look over. Everyone else was waking up.

“Whoa, what happened?” Christian said, sitting up.

“Where are we?” Matt asked, looking around. They were on a hill in the middle of a park. People were casually strolling by on gravel pathways, and some were giving the guys odd looks.

“I don’t know, but we should probably try to figure it out,” said Meteo, staring right back at the people who were looking at them.

“WAAAAHH! Kristal, come back!” A loud cry echoed over the hill. A blonde woman in a very short skirt ran by them, stepping on Meteo’s hand.

“Hey, watch where you’re going, you-” The impending curse word was lost as a another person literally tripped right over him. The two rolled down the hill, with the other guys following behind. The guys, now lying on the gravel path at the bottom of the hill, disentangled themselves from each other. Meteo’s face was red with anger. “What’s the big idea?” he yelled at the unfortunate man in the orange jacket who was struggling to get up. Sparkling tears were pouring down in his face.

“What’s going on?” Nathaniel said as he, Matt, and Christian arrived at the bottom of the hill.

“You saw him just knock me down the hill. Why’d you ask what’s going on?” Meteo said in irritation. Nathaniel and Christian grabbed the arms of the orange-jacketed man and hoisted him to his feet while Matt tried to calm down Meteo.

“You look familiar,” said Christian to the man.

“I’m Larry. Larry Butz,” the man sniffled, looking in the direction the attractive blonde girl had gone.

“Larry Butz?” said Nathaniel incredulously. As in the character from Ace Attorney Larry Butz? “Are you okay?”

“No, not really,” he moaned. “That blonde hottie that just ran by, she is…well, she was… my girlfriiieeeennddd…” He fell back into sobbing.

Clothes, check. Womanizer, check. Crybaby, check. This was definitely Larry Butz.

He quickly gathered his friends in a circle, leaving Larry on the outside. “Guys, I think we have a problem.”

“Are you talking about me? You’re talking about me, aren’t you?” Larry wailed.

“Either we’re in the Ace Attorney universe or we’ve been magically transported to a sunny park with a really determined cosplayer,” Nathaniel continued, ignoring the man behind them.

“Although neither sound probable,” said Matt slowly, “remembering the events in the hotel room, I think the first option seems the more likely.”

“So what are we going to do?” Christian said.

“I think we need to track down the others, then figure out what’s going on,” Meteo replied. He seemed to have calmed down a little bit.

“Hey, uh, Larry,” said Nathaniel, turning around. “Can you help us out?”

Larry gave them a thumbs up and a shaky smile. “Sure, buddies, whaddya need?”

They all looked at each other. How about a way home? “Well, we kind of need a place to stay,” Nathaniel said. “We’re new here.”

“Oh, I gotcha. I know the perfect place. I can get you guys a place at the Gatewater!”

“The hotel?” Nathaniel asked curiously.

“Hey, you know it! I thought you’d never been here!” Larry said, his eyes brightening with confusion, which was quickly dispelled.

“Yeah, um, we’ve heard of it.”

“Well, I’ve got an in with one of the maids who knows the manager, she can get you one of the rooms.” Larry looked triumphant.

“Would you mind getting us a room?” Matt asked.

“Sure! You guys listened to me, more than I can say for Nick or Edgey sometimes!” Larry started to lead them through the park, which he called People Park, chattering animatedly to whichever guy happened to be the closest. The others walked close together, talking quietly.

“What’s our first move?” Matt said, frowning.

“I think we’d better track down our fearless leader first,” said Christian. “Then Michael and Diana, because they’ll probably be the most knowledgeable about where we are… I wonder where they are?”


Jeddy woke up in a small dark room. “Ugh,” he groaned, sitting up and feeling for a light switch. When he finally found one, he yelled in shock at what he saw.

Paul, also unconscious on the floor, came to as Jeddy yelled. “Hey, Jeddy, what’s wrong? Why’d you yell?” he asked, trying to stay calm. Jeddy was looking at him like he was a madman.

“Wh-who are you? How do you know my name?” he said loudly, backing up.

“Jeddy, it’s me, Paul.” Paul was sure his friend was just being silly. Or maybe he couldn’t see. The light in the small room wasn’t the best. He had an odd feeling that he couldn’t shake, however. That something was different.

Jeddy had been backing toward the door. He threw it open and tried to run out, but tripped on an inconveniently placed ladder and fell to the ground, knocking himself out again.


Phoenix Wright had not been having a good day. First Maya had taken all of his money to go buy burgers, then she had hogged the small office T.V. all day to watch the Steel Samurai marathon, and his tie had fallen in the toilet while he was cleaning it because a loud shout from Maya had startled him. As he furiously tried to blot his tie, there came yelling and a loud crash from outside. “Maya, was that you?” he called.

“No!” Maya stuck her head in the outer office. “We should go check it out, Nick!”

Phoenix sighed and opened the outside door. The sight that met his eyes was a very unusual one. A man was lying unconscious in the hallway, sprawled over a ladder.

“Why is there a ladder here?” he muttered. Maya poked his arm.

“Nick, that’s a stepladder,” she said firmly. Phoenix ignored her. Another man was looking at the unconscious body in confusion.

“Sir, what happened here?” Phoenix asked. When the man looked up at him, his eyes grew wide.

“P-Phoenix Wright?”

“Sorry? Have we met?”

“No, no.” The man suddenly caught sight of his reflection in a mirror hanging on the wall of the hallway. He let out a strangled yell, clapping his hands to his cheeks. “It’s gone!”

“I’m sorry, what’s gone?” Phoenix was utterly lost. Maya had knelt down to check on the guy on the floor.

“My beard! It’s gone! And right before the beard competition, too!” The man looked like he was going into hysterics.

“Hey, mister?” Maya said from the floor. She was fingering something in the guy’s jacket pocket. “What color was your beard?”

“I really don’t want to talk about it,” the man replied almost tearfully.

“Cause I think I found it,” Maya said, pulling out a razor from the man’s pocket. It had strands of hair caught in it.

“Jeddy!” The man looked furious now. “Jeddy murdered my beard?” Apparently he decided to go with this conclusion. “Oh, I always knew he was jealous…” He trailed off with unintelligible mumbling.

“Sir? Can we figure this out?” Phoenix asked, desperately trying to maintain some hold on the situation. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Paul,” the man (Paul) said distractedly. He was still touching his face like he couldn’t believe it was real.

“And you’re accusing this man, Jeddy, of murdering your… beard?” Phoenix asked in confusion.

“Yes! Call the police, will you!”

“This is the police!” Well, speak of the devil, Phoenix thought. Detective Gumshoe shoved his way down the hallway. “We received a report of noise, pal.”

“Detective, it’s good that you’re here,” said Paul, hurrying over to him. “This man is a murderer!”

“A murderer, pal! Who’d he kill?” Gumshoe looked concerned.

Paul gestured to himself. “He killed my beard!”

Phoenix looked at the detective. There was no way he would take this seriously. But to his surprise, Gumshoe looked outraged. “A beard murder, pal. That’s sad,” he said, shaking his head.

As is on cue, Jeddy began to come around. “Ung…” he groaned. “What happened?”

“Jeddy, you are a cold, heartless murderer,” Paul said, shaking his head.

“You’re under arrest, pal!” Gumshoe said, hauling poor Jeddy to his feet.

“Paul, is that you?” Jeddy asked, looking confused. “Where’s your beard? What happened to it?”

“How dare you even ask that?” Paul said angrily.

“Mysterious person known as Jeddy, you’re under arrest for the murder of Paul’s beard. You have the right to remain silent…” the voice of Gumshoe trailed off as did Jeddy’s cries.

“No! Paul, please! I’m innocent!”

Paul looked sadly after his friend before trudging in the opposite direction. Phoenix and Maya looked after him, then looked at each other. “We gonna defend him, Nick?” Maya asked determinedly.

“Yep.”


It took Paul a few minutes of wandering around outside to realize what he’d just seen. Wait… that was Phoenix Wright. What?


The mysterious person quickly snuck out the back exit of the office building. It was a good thing the person had managed to track down at least two of them. He was still burning with quiet rage and jealousy. That man’s beard… Something had to be done, the person thought firmly, frowning as they called for a taxi.And I must say, framing the friend was pure genius. And with this new delay, the “others” (as they were called in the person’s mind) were going to be forced to be here for longer and longer, disrupting the stability of the Ace Attorney universe. Yes, it really was a genius plan, the person thought, leaning back on the taxi seat in satisfaction. Only fitting for the unrecognized genius of the Ace Attorney series.


For more of Diana’s fanfiction, check out her FanFiction.net page here!

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9 Comments

    1. Paul has the chapter for next week, and I’m trying to fight off writer’s block for Chapter 4. Thank you!

        1. Working on it! About halfway done… Seriously, I have never had such bad writer’s block. This is new. I’ll get it to you before Sunday. 🙂

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