ruffboi | Phoenix Catch-All

[ sometimes when you gagtag you forget to give an actual tag and are a horrible person for that ]

[ also this all seems very believable, especially the part where max is a little scamp who loved them all so very much. ]

... Must have been confusing.

[ the two gangs of reapers. ]

So you were all already dead and had to play a murdergame? Sounds a little like overkill.... no pun intended.

[ or was it. anyway, he nods for magnus to go on. ]

Yeah. Playing to stay alive, not to not die.

[So.]

So. Eventually, it turned out everything was just a lie! We were all being tested on like. Teamwork or something. In fact, the game almost ended when too many of the Ducks got caught and killed off. It turned out they were actually being forced into it, and most of them were like. Teenagers. Reaper teenagers.

Once we stopped hunting them, we got back on the right track? It turned out the Composer wasn't doing it for bad reasons, either. She was kinda forced into running a game like this, but was trying to help us prove we deserved better than that.

Twist on a common concept, I suppose.

[ parts of that are familiar to him. everyone leaping to accuse blue who was more or less forced to participate, same as them.... the answer being not murder. well. some things are consistent. ]

So, where did Akira come into play? The one you knew.

Oof. It feels kind of messed up to share that? I haven't even told him all of it, so don't. . . spread it around.

[But he knows Phoenix is kind of a dad to the Blues kids from Beau, so.]

Guess you'll find out from the movies, probably. He was one of the Ducks. One of the Reaper kids they were forcing to kill.

[ yikes. ]

I'll keep it to myself.

[ he would have even if not asked. ]

.... Sounds like his luck, though.

Yeah. But I got a pretty good sense of who he is from all that. A really good guy.

I'm trying things different this time around, 'cause he didn't trust me there for most of the time because of the way I acted. I don't want that to happen again. I'd never not help somebody in a situation like that.

[ wow magnus seems like a really good guy who would definitely never murder phoenix or anything. ]

Yeah, he's a good kid. If a bit of a handful.

[ phoenix clearly says that fondly. ]

He does like the jokester with the heart of gold types. Maybe just let the heart of gold shine through.

[He never would! He'd never murder him at all.]

Yeah! We're getting along just fine.

[ definitely no murder in their futures. ]

Good to hear.

[ ... ]

You mentioned a couple of other people I know. Mind telling me a bit more about them?

Other people you know. . . ?

Dahlia, for one. And I believe you mentioning her something about writing someone else's name in blood or ketchup or something like that.

Oh. [Eesh.] Friend. . . of. . . yours?

[Wait, though.]

Wait, if you know Dahlia, then do you know Maya, too? They were from the same place.

I don't think Dahlia ever had any friends in her life. But I knew her, yes.

[ they dated but they also didn't because it was her twin???? it's complicated. ]

Maya, on the other hand... Yes, she's a good friend. Has a bad habit of getting framed for murders, at that.

Oh! [Much warmer in tone, then.] Maya! I really liked her a lot.

I guess you could say she got framed in our game, too, but. . . she wasn't ever in danger, exactly.

Yes... I can see the two of you getting along.

[ ... ]

That's a new one. How so?

[ he remembers what magnus said about the masterminds but can't ever picture maya as the mayastermind of a murdergame ]

Well. She and Anthy were running the show. But it wasn't like - it wasn't their idea to kill people. I think they were being made to do it that way by somebody even more powerful, and were trying to get some good to come out of it.

[So. Yeah. Mastermind, but. . .]

The first week, it seemed like she died, but she was actually there the whole time. She was helping the Reaper kids. And she sent us a mean letter and we had a Big Mac Sauce fight.

.... That last part sounds like Maya.

[ the rest he can't really wrap his head around.... her dying, running a murdergame, being controlled by someone else? ]

How did she die? Did she tell you?

In real life, or in the game? In the game, it was Dahlia - her stupid murder plan was to frame Maya, and we caught her, but since Maya was her partner, she got dragged down with her anyway.

[Sad.]

Tried to save her, but. Guess it didn't matter. In real life, I'm not sure. But she got caught up in one of the Reaper games, and some dick helped her win, and got her stuck there.

[ but why weren't anthy and dahlia partners instead.......... okay no ]

[ laughs a little without humor. ]

That is a very Dahlia move.

[ but yikes. ]

[ big yikes. he goes silent for a good long beat. ]

... Thanks. For the info. The Maya I know wouldn't stab a french fry with a fork.

The Maya I met is probably pretty different from the one you know. [Considering his words, thoughtful.] Akira is pretty different. He was a Reaper, meaning he'd had this whole other life before the game we played together that this Akira didn't have.

Maya was living that life for even longer than him. But she was still a good person. Didn't ever see her eat french fries with forks, but saw enough.

....

Suppose being trapped in these kinds of situations can change people. More if it's multiple cycles.

[ like they've all changed. it kills him inside that this is happening to any version of maya, though. where was he? ]

[He gets that very well, so quickly he points out - ]

I don't think this kind of situation was how things usually were for her! The Reapers' games were just - games, run by somebody on the other side, which were supposed to be a chance for dead guys to get a second chance at life. They weren't all about murdering people.

[Trying to remember what specifically she said - ]

She said her type of game was, she'd have everybody work together to solve unsolved cases and things? And then she'd be able to give those people a second chance to come back to life, based on who tried and cared the most. So - I don't think she's in a bad situation.

[ it is relieving to know reaper's games aren't all murdergames because that's definitely the assumption he had been running with. ]

[ that's like, five years of his life back and 15% less manpain ]

[ he listens to this with his trademark mysterious smile (tm), but even with that, it's easy enough to tell that it's fond. ]

Back in my lawyer days, that's the kind of thing we did. That much is familiar to me.

[ when he wasn't being phoenix wright.... animal attorney. ]

Oh, right! She mentioned that! She said she used to do it with some "dorky defense attorney," though, so I dunno if she was talking about you? Are you a defense attorney?

I was.

[ muffled reminiscence in the background ]

But yeah, that'd be me.

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