Ace Attorney F1 AU

Summary

This is an unfinished draft of a fanfiction, which is a Formula One/Racing AU. The draft as is is posted below. I will also go into detail about the plans I had for this. I may continue this draft in the future but for now I am not planning on working on it more. Italics represent my personal writing note from the draft.

The race was almost over. There were only a few hundred meters left in the race. Phoenix was neck and neck with the other drivers. Over the course of the race he lagged behind the other drivers but quickly caught up with the frontrunner.

“We are now on the last leg of the race! Will the demon of the motorway come through with another win or will another racer usurp his win streak?” the commentator announces over the loudspeaker.

Phoenix approaches behind the frontrunner and moves to pull ahead of his competition. “This is it. The moment which will define my season, my career. If I can pull this off, then I can finally prove my worth to him. Maybe I can get him to understand, to listen to me, then maybe I can save him from himself.” He thinks to himself, as the two cars approach each other fighting for the lead.

Phoenix leans forward as the moment approaches and he pulls in on his rival. The blue car pulls ahead of the red and blocks off the approach of its competitor. There is a moment of silence as the crowd watches in anticipation. The cars speed ahead. The crowd goes wild as the two racers cross the finish line.

Then as the crowd dies down a bit there is a curiosity and confusion over the winner, and over the big screen, the announcers replay the video showing that, yes! The first place winner was racer number 77 … Phoenix Wright? He couldn’t believe it. This was not the first time he’d earned points at a grand prix – he placed at the previous grand prix in fifth place – but this was his first podium, and more importantly, his first win against the “demon of the motorway”.

As he loops around the track one last time, the red car follows. He guides his car into the podium spots and as he pulls himself out of the pit. Adrenaline is running high. There is no time to calm himself from the high of the race. As he steps away from the car he is flocked by a myriad of reporters and media personnel. This is the first time Phoenix has ever been on the podium at a grand prix, so beating “the demon” especially coming out of an okay-ish first season was a surprise to many.

Phoenix dodges the reporters, microphones, and cameras to go see Maya as she pulls in and heads to the cooldown room. Maya notices him walking over and runs to envelop him in a big embrace. “OMG Congratulations Nick!!” Maya yells enthusiastically.

Together they enter the cooldown room as Phoenix notices the man in the corner sending a deathly glare at the two new arrivals. Phoenix locks eyes with him across the room – Ferrari’s star driver, Miles Edgeworth.

Phoenix decides to walk closer to the corner in which Edgeworth is brooding, but with another glare sent their way, Maya puts her arm out infront of her teammate to stop him. As soon as the duo stop, Edgeworth marches over to them with cold anger in his eyes. “You…” Edgeworth points in Phoenix’s face while standing over him with an intimidating stance. Phoenix’s whole body tenses up. A brief second of tense silence stands between the two. Then Edgeworth takes a deep breath as he lowers his hand. With a closed off stance, he continues. “I don't want to see your face again. Don’t try to talk to me. This little stunt you pulled will not be tolerated, you have insulted me.”

After a brief second of silence, Phoenix responds. “I thought you did amazing out there! You have no reason to feel ashamed. You're still in the top rankings for this season, and you got second place, that's certainly something to be proud of.”

“You have NO IDEA what it's like. I have a legacy to uphold. I can not be a perfect racer when I am bested by the likes of you, a glorified rookie. I have no clue how you were able to join such a team so quickly;you're a second tier driver at best. You better stay out of my way for the rest of the season.”

Phoenix falters for a second. “You’ve changed, and not for the better. I can’t believe I used to look up to you.” Phoenix says defeatedly and then turns and walks away. Maya quickly follows after a brief second and runs after him.

They end up on the other side of the room in the corner to get as much privacy as possible in a room being publicly filmed. Phoenix looks both tense and exhausted as he stares at the wall conflicted. “I still believe in him, I know he’s better than this.” Phoenix whispers under his breath.

Maya stands next to him, staring with curious but empathetic eyes. “Nick… what was that? Do you know each other?”

Phoenix looks over at her and sighs. “We did know each other when we were younger… H-He saved me actually. I don’t know what’s happened to him since we last raced together, but I know he’s better than this. I need to save him from himself.” Phoenix looks down at the floor.

“I don’t know what you see in him, but I trust you.”

Phoenix looks up and then responds. “Thanks Maya.” He then looks around at the room contemplatively.

After a few moments, an FIA official opens the door informs the trio that the cameras cut out a few seconds after Edgeworth began confronting Phoenix. Unforchunatly this was not quick enough to avoid televising most of the incident. The official then pulls Edgeworth out of the room, presumably to talk about what happened.

Once the podium celebration is ready to begin, the duo head to the stage, ready to be announced in front of the crowd. While waiting, the two notice the absence of one driver in particular, Miles Edgeworth. This was almost unheard of - a podium winner not at the podium. After the incident in the cool-down room, however, there was more than just that on the audience's mind.

After the ceremony, Phoenix was informed by one of his team managers that he was scheduled for a long interview as a part of the post-race show. Phoenix expected to have to do interviews, it's a part of the job, but after a win like that and especially the confrontation with Edgeworth, he knew the interview was not going to be kind.

“Interviews and the publicity are my least favorite part of racing. But I have to do an interview later today. I wasn’t given much information about it yet but I’m assuming it’s about the race and my win.” Phoenix comments with a sigh.

“I totally understand! I hate it too, the interviewers will bring up things unrelated to racing and reporters will dig into your personal life. But it's all shit that comes with racing, you just have to persevere.” Maya responds with a pout.

“Yeah… well wish me luck” Phoenix takes a deep breath and releases it slowly to attempt to steady himself and then walks through the threshold.

As Phoenix sits down across from the interviewer, he is introduced to the audience. The interviewer then greets him and begins the interview.

“So, Phoenix, this is a big day for you isn't it? This was your first Grand Prix win. Tell us how you feel?” The interviewer asks.

“Well there’s certainly a lot of emotions that I’m feeling right now” Phoenix responds briefly.

“It's not hard to imagine. With the accident last season we were surprised to see you come back into the lineup especially so soon.” The interviewer stares bullets at Phoenix.

“It was definitely hard on me but I had to be strong for my team, my friends, and to carry on her legacy. I think that’s what she would have wanted.” Phoenix responds and shifts around in his seat a bit.

“That’s so brave and noble of you. It might be hard to imagine such a stand up guy getting into fights with his fellow racers like we saw in the cool down room today. Could you tell us about what happened there?” Phoenix becomes very visibly uncomfortable.

Phoenix stumbles over himself. “oh. … That. … That was purely personal and will not affect my performance; the fans don’t need to worry about it!” He tries to reassure his audience and himself.

“With your rise in success, and the end of Edgeworth’s winning spree, will there be increased tensions and animosity between the two of you?” The interviewer leans forward in their seat in anticipation.

Phoenix takes a quiet breath and responds. “Oh definitely but I try to stay chill about it. I don’t want it to get in the way of my driving and career.”

“It seems that the fans have become invested in whatever relationship the two of you have. Our social media has been blowing up. The fans have been discussing the situation ad nauseam since yesterday. So answer this for us, Did you actually know Edgeworth before your career?”

“Well we did, we used to do karting together back in the day, but… we haven't really seen each other in years.”

“Oh, were you two friends as kids?”

“Yeah you could say that.”

“Could you elaborate on that?”

“I… I guess.” Phoenix stumbles a bit over his words, takes a second, and continues. “Well we met in a young racers program when we were .. maybe 12? It was the first time either of us really made friends with other karting enthusiasts. We shared the dream of making a career out of racing and making it big someday.” Phoenix is clearly thinking about something as he says this. Then he closes himself off and stammers out a final sentence. “We tried to keep in touch and we did for a while but eventually his responses got shorter and shorter and eventually stopped altogether.”

“So where are you going to go from here? What’s your strategy for Monaco?”

“Just keep racing and doing my best! I’ve gotta make sure the fans have something to look forward to.” Phoenix responds and gives a forced smile to the camera.

After the interview ended, Phoenix steps out of the interview room and meets up with Maya, who was watching the whole time from the live feed outside. Phoenix takes a breath as he releases the tension in his body at the sight of Maya. The two of them had been through a lot together in the past few years, and have become fast friends and now even consider each other family, despite only knowing each other for a little over two years.

Maya pulls Phoenix into an embrace. They sit there embracing each other for a few moments, as if this is the first moment they are able to fully decompress. They then pull away softly and slowly. “So that sucked,” Phoenix comments.

“Yeah, duh.”

“I was hoping they weren’t going to bring up that conversation, but I always am too hopeful aren't I?” Phoenix starts tearing up a bit from all of the emotions of the past 24 hours.

“Yeah, the media is always doing that aren't they?” Maya says a little bitterly, but then continues with a lighter tone. “But I like that you always believe in the best of people, your hope is a strength.”

“Maya…” Phoenix’s voice cracks a bit as he wipes away the tears in his eyes. He then looks towards Maya and gives her a gentle teary-eye smile.

Maya moves towards Phoenix, pats his back with an open palm and then looks towards him, “Come on Nick, let’s forget about all of this and go celebrate your win!”

“What about you! You got your highest placement yesterday too! We should be celebrating you too!”

Maya giggles. “Well yeah we were going to do that too! but you need to learn how to celebrate your own wins too, not just focusing on others!”

Phoenix sighs at that and shakes his head sarcastically in response.

After the interview the two end up going to a nearby restaurant. Maya finds the restaurant after talking to some locals and she immediately decides the two are going to eat there. They end up going to this small hole in the wall ramen shop. After dinner they stumble across a karaoke bar and sing and goof off until the end of the night. After a night of celebration, the two end up stumbling back to their hotel rooms to pass out. On their way the duo have a conversation.

“I think your sister would be proud of you.” Phoenix says, slightly slurring his words from the drinks he had that night.

“W-what? Really?” Maya responds, a little off kilter from the suddenness of Phoenix's statement. “I grew up with her but I feel like I barely knew her at all.”

“Yeah.. you're amazing. Mia would talk about you all the time. And it was clear she loved you a lot.”

Maya starts tearing up. “I.. I don’t know what to say. But thank you, Nick. That means so much more to me than you can imagine.”

“You know, I feel like I’m not living up to her ‘legacy’ but I need to learn how to live my life separate from her.”

“Well I don’t think I'm making it easy for you.”

“Don’t say that! You have helped much more than you think… I don’t even know where I’d be without your help in those months after we lost her.”

“I don’t know.. The only reason you're still racing is because of me."

Maya stands up.

"Nick. No you goofball. I didn't continue racing because of you! I chose this for myself!" Maya responses with ernistness.

Phoenix looks up at her with a softened expression. Maya looks at him and sighs.

"Come on Nick. Its been a long day. I think we both need a rest"

The next week the teams are preparing for the next grand prix, set to be in Monaco. Once they arrive in the city, Phoenix starts working with his engineering team to get his car checked in preparation for the race. Phoenix is feeling the pressure. With such a surprise in results at the last race, the audience is expecting some great feat from him again. Phoenix knows he is also putting a great deal of pressure on himself as well, due to his own expectations and the rivalry he has roped himself into. He feels he needs to stay on the same level and beat Edgeworth during this race to get his old friend’s respect. However, considering his rival’s reaction after the last race, Phoenix has a bit of apprehension with the prospect. Despite this Phoenix is determined to see this through.

The dealer shuffles the deck for a minute or two. She then pulls a card out. And then another. (LOOK UP WHAT POKER LOOKS LIKE) she sets her cards facedown in the center of the table and starts dealing. No one dares touch them until all the cards are dealt. Phoenix looks down at his cards they’re okay, it looks like he’ll have to bluff his way through this one.

After this is just an outline

Phoenix nearly wins poker tournament. Enter the final face off. There is tension between the two (Kris and Nick). Kris talks to Nick and is a bit manipulative about what went down at Suzuka. This makes Phoenix question himself in the moment.

Phoenix practics for the race with Maya

Race at Monaco - figure out the placements. Issues with leadership on teams come up during the race. Miles gives Nick a weird look right before the race, likely during the opening ceremony. In the race Phoenix nearly lose but does place in the top 5 or 10? Miles is weirdly distant and reserved after the race, especially compared to the last race. Later Phoenix eavesdrops on a conversation with Edgeworth’s team and leadership. Its toxic! Hearing this informs Phoenix of context that Edgeworth is racing under. Miles is challenging leadership but in good way and VonKarma is their team principal.

After dinner Phoenix sees Miles walking back to his apartment and Phoenix confronts him - Also it’s raining for mood. This conversation leaves them off on bad terms but Miles seems more willing to be civil.

Next race is in [place], Kris plays dirty and wins first place. Add scene of Miles talking to his engineering (Gumshoe is one of the engineers. After this race the Phoenix and Miles are pulled in to do a joint interview. During the joint interview Phoenix is staring at Miles and loses focus from the interview, he's Lost in his eyes. The sound of the interviewer’s voice ripped him out of his trance.