"Maybe it's a weather machine! We could sure use some sun right about now!"

Maya circled around to the back side of the large machine to look it over yet again. Phoenix remained where he was, looking up at the device with a thoughtful expression.

The pair had been holed up in the dark basement of a rather forgettable-looking old building for nearly an hour now. As was so often the case when the pair visited a new location, the basement appeared to be the scene of a recent murder.

The client they were to represent in the case was a somewhat scatterbrained scientist in her late thirties. Her name was Airie Xemple, though Maya had already managed to forget it two or three times since they had first met with her. The building belonged to an old colleague of Dr. Xemple’s, whose apparent murder was causing quite a stir in the scientific community. The police were no longer particularly active in the building by this point in the day, leaving defence attorney Phoenix Wright and his close friend and assistant Maya Fey a reasonable amount of freedom to examine the scene. Dr. Xemple claimed total innocence in her colleague's murder, and she seemed sincere enough for Phoenix's Magatama, so he'd set off for the dingy old building with Maya at the earliest opportunity.

 

Phoenix turned away from the strange machine in the centre of the room, which he and Maya had been examining for a while now, as he heard a noise from the stairwell leading back up to ground level.

 

"Hmph. I cannot say I am surprised to see you here, Mr. Phoenix Wright."

Startled by the new arrival’s familiar voice, Maya muttered something rather rude. Prosecutor Franziska von Karma arrived at the bottom of the stairs, giving Phoenix an impatient glare.

"I suppose that in your foolish world, preserving the crime scene is of little importance." the prosecutor snapped as Maya stepped back from the large machine.

"We’re just as careful as you are, Ms. von Karma." Phoenix replied, hopeful that he might, for once, avoid doing anything to anger the short-tempered prosecutor.

"Hmmph. See that you are. The perfect investigation cannot abide foolish, troublemaking fools risking damage to the evidence." was Franziska's retort.

"I really appreciate your faith in us." Maya interjected, her approach to this conversation immediately demonstrating considerably less caution. “Guess we’ll just have to share the space down here.”

“Maya…” Phoenix sighed, remembering the many painful experiences he’d had in the past when interacting with Franziska on a crime scene. The whip the perfectionist prosecutor insistently carried around wasn’t just for show.

 

--------

 

 

The investigation remained tense for some time to follow. Franziska made no small effort to repeatedly express her disdain for Phoenix's particular habits related to collecting evidence from the scene, but without any police around to blockade their progress, he and Maya were able to inspect the basement with little obstruction.

Another twenty-five minutes had passed when Maya opted to leave and find a burger stand, hoping to buy something to eat. This, of course, left Phoenix alone with Franziska. He wasn't terribly interested in trying to speak with her about the case.

 

Something noteworthy was beginning to occur, though neither noticed. When Maya left the basement, she bumped into the large machine she'd been so fascinated by earlier on, while edging her way past Phoenix.

The machine itself was beginning to emit a low hum as Phoenix and Franziska continued their own individual inspections of the room's many contents.

About a minute in, the hum became quite noticeable.

"Hmm...?" Phoenix turned to check for the source of the noise.

 

--------

 

Franziska was about to make another impatient remark as she heard Phoenix's voice. She only just managed to look up in time as the still-unidentified machine let off a deafening sound for a split-second.

Phoenix staggered back with a yelp.

"… It was only a sound." Franziska chided, smirking slightly at her opponent's nervousness. Her smirk faded as she watched Phoenix scrambling back toward the wall. "Is something bothering you, Mr. Ph-..."

Her voice trailed off.

 

Phoenix had good reason to look so distressed; as the large machine settled down, a dim glow had appeared around Phoenix's body. It enveloped him completely as he frantically writhed in place, clearly not comfortable with this development.

 

Franziska took a slow step toward him and something else caught her attention. She was several inches shorter than Phoenix, so why was her eye level now over his head, when he was still standing?

"H-help-!!" Phoenix stammered, looking at her in a panic.

"Are you-..." Franziska didn’t finish the question, but she found her answer as she continued to observe the scene.

Phoenix was getting smaller. Shrinking. And the process was accelerating.

 

--------

 

Hoping to free himself from the strange glow around his body, Phoenix tried to step toward Franziska. He stumbled and nearly fell.

He was barely half her height now. Franziska could only watch in astonishment as Phoenix's stature dwindled further and further.

"H-help me-!!" he sputtered again.

 

By now Franziska had to stoop down to see what Phoenix was doing clearly.

Nearly a minute after the glow first appeared, it began to fade. Phoenix was still struggling to escape whatever discomfort he was experiencing. He'd barely made it halfway toward Franziska with his size continuously decreasing.

 

At last, it seemed to stop. The sickly glow around the defence attorney's body was gone, and he looked to be finished shrinking.

Franziska could only see this, however, because she'd lowered herself down onto one knee to continue examining him.

 

In barely a minute, Phoenix Wright had gone from a ways short of six feet tall to somewhere in the vicinity of two inches tall.

 

Watching the bizarre scene before her as it gradually unfolded, Franziska's mind had been occupied by quite a frantic series of wildly varying thoughts.

She had just watched Phoenix Wright being reduced from his ordinary height, standing a good several inches over her, to what looked like two inches off the ground at best.

The defence attorney was now left on the basement's floor, barely tall enough to even clear the toe section of her tall boots.

Down on one knee to continue observing this strange occurrence up close, Franziska barely knew what to say.

She heard a small voice. Was he trying to speak to her?

She turned her head slightly, and from there, could make out his panicked words. His voice sounded incredibly strange in this state.

"- some way to help me... could you get me off of this floor, at least?"

She paused. After a moment's consideration, a thin smile appeared on her lips. Turning back to look at the puny attorney on the floor, she lowered one hand and allowed him to climb up onto her palm. His movements felt strange against her black leather glove.

She rose to her feet, carrying him up. What was she supposed to do with him now? By all appearances, that strange machine he'd bumped into had caused this, but could it reverse the change?

... If Franziska was honest with herself, she wasn't sure she actually wanted to fix this situation quite yet. Hearing Phoenix's pleas, she'd briefly considered the idea of trying to study the strange machine for herself and attempt to reverse its effects, but at the same time, this situation presented the kind of opportunity she'd never experienced before since meeting the frustrating defence attorney.

 

But what do with him, now that she had him? The possibilities were rather extensive...

A noise sounded from somewhere behind her, making her turn around. She thought that Phoenix might have been trying to speak to her again as well, but she wasn't listening.

"Nii-iick!"

The smile on her face faded a bit. Maya Fey was returning. This would make it considerably harder for her to take advantage of Phoenix's sudden reduction in size, unless...

Her lips curled into a proper smirk. She'd just gotten an entirely new idea.

 

Maya's footsteps were coming back down into the basement room.

"Niiiick," she called out again, "I've got you your sandwich! Did you want to-..."

Stopping a few steps from the floor, Maya trailled off, looking around the room in surprise.

"Uh..." She looked to Franziska, who had quickly hidden Phoenix in her closed fist, pressing it against her side. "Where did-..."

"Phoenix Wright needed to step out for a phone call." Franziska lied, keeping her voice level. "I don't think he will have gone far."

Her mind was abuzz with the effort to determine what best to do here. It might prove difficult to continue concealing the shrunken defence attorney from the notice of his assistant.

"Oh." Maya looked down at the bag she was carrying. It was from a nearby food stand, by the look of it. "Well, I don't really wanna carry his chicken sandwich around all day, so is it OK if I just leave this stuff here for a sec' while I go and find him?"

 

Franziska blinked, thinking it over.

"If you must." she said, waving her free hand. "So long as you aren't foolish enough to make a mess of the crime scene."

Maya shrugged. "That'd be kinda hard to do." she said. With that, she set the bag down on an empty shelf right beside the stairs and turned, heading back up.

 

Once Maya was gone, Franziska moved into action. She approached the shelf where Maya had just left the bag, a new goal in mind.

 

--------

 

Phoenix awkwardly wriggled in the grip of Franziska's leather glove. What the hell was she doing? He'd just heard Maya out in the room somewhere, but it sounded like she'd left again.

He could hear some kind of rustling noise now.

At last, his view opened up again, and he looked on in confusion. Franziska was holding a foil-wrapped burger in her other hand. Maya's, he had to guess. What was she doing...?

She spoke up, and he squirmed in place, trying to see her face. It loomed over him in ominous fashion, and her smirking expression made him shiver.

"Your assistant, Maya Fey, is a bit of a glutton, isn't she?" Franziska remarked. Phoenix wasn't sure of what she was getting at. "Eating something like this," she went on, lightly flicking the wrist of the hand holding Maya's burger, "Do you think she would notice if it contained... an extra ingredient?"

Phoenix blinked, still not understanding what Franziska's point was. She wasn't just judging Maya's eating habits, was she? Sure, Maya ate a fair bit more than was probably reasonable, and she did love her burgers, but...

He made a startled noise as Franziska used two fingers to pry the burger's top bun loose. The motion exposed the nice-looking leaf of lettuce it contained, resting on top of a generous slice of cheese topping the beef patty.

"Uhh..."

Franziska gave a quiet laugh.

"Actually, I think I might like to order one of these for myself... perhaps you could judge this one for me, Phoenix Wright?"

"Wha-..."

Phoenix's response went silent as Franziska suddenly began to move him. His eyes widened in alarm, watching as Maya's burger suddenly drew closer. Was Franziska going to...

 

“Ack-...!"

Warmth swept over Phoenix as the prosecutor holding onto him suddenly forced him headfirst into the gap between the burger's lettuce leaf and the layer of cheese. He was blinded, getting a faceful of a sauce coating that was spread across the cheese slice. Franziska's fingers pushed him forward, and he slid helplessly along the damp surface until she'd forced him inside of the burger entirely.

He gagged, a mouthful of (admittedly delicious) sauce almost making him choke.

What the hell was Franziska doing this for? He was surrounded by intense warmth, the freshly-grilled burger creating a sweltering environment all around him.

Ahead, the lettuce and heavy top bun above him lifted away, and he blinked, trying to get the sauce out of his eyes. He could see Franziska again.

"Hm. I think you look right at home, Phoenix Wright." she said in a mocking voice. "I wonder what Maya Fey might think, if she learned that her defence attorney friend had become part of her lunch?"

His stomach lurched. Was she serious...? She couldn't actually be planning to try and trick Maya into eating him, could she...!?

There wasn't time to ask. Franziska snapped the top bun back down again, and Phoenix's world went dark. He wriggled, but the burger's numerous layers were nearly impossible for him to shift.

He could feel sauce dripping down his face from his hair.

 

--------

 

Franziska stowed the burger away again and stepped back out into the middle of the room, satisfied. This would be entertaining, no doubt.

 

After a minute or so, Maya returned again, a confused frown on her face.

"You're sure Nick didn't say he was going off anywhere?" she inquired. "I don't see him. Like, anywhere."

Keeping her cool, Franziska shook her head briefly. "I don't claim to understand what goes on in the foolish mind of your foolish friend, Maya Fey."

Maya made an irritated noise.

"Well, thanks, anyway. His sandwich is gonna get cold, but I guess that's his fault."

Franziska watched, trying not to make herself conspicuous, as Maya reached into the food bag and withdrew her burger. It didn't look like she'd noticed anything off about it.

 

--------

 

The world was shifting again. Phoenix felt a horrible sense of dread. He could tell that someone was picking up the burger again, but there was no way to spot who it was.

If it was Maya, then he was going to be in serious-

"AAGH-!!"

He let out the terrified yell in response to a sudden powerful impact just in front of him. Squirming backward out of reflex, still pinned inside of the burger, he took in the rather alarming sight of a huge set of teeth in front of him, which had just cleaved a sizeable chunk out of the burger. He shuddered as a soft, plush lip brushed over his cheek. Maya had just taken a very large first bite, and she'd almost taken his head off with it.

"M-Maya...!!" he gasped, his mouth feeling very dry. "MAYA, HELP...!!"

He had been lowered away from his friend and assistant's huge face, and watched her jaw at work, chewing on the first bite of her burger. Had she heard him?

A single crumb tumbled from Maya's lips and past his position, and he found his voice again.

“MAYAAA!!"

With the first chunk of the burger gone, he could work his arms free. He was tired from struggling, but pushed them forward all the same, waving a hand in the air to try and draw Maya's attention. Her brown eyes weren't pointed in his direction...

Mmh-...?"

Maya froze, seated on the stairs, a look of pure confusion appearing on her face. She was certain she'd just heard someone's voice, and it sounded like...

(Nick...?)

She glanced around, but her friend still wasn't anywhere in sight. Even Franziska had just gone back upstairs moments ago. The voice hadn't sounded like it came from back up the stairs, so-

“Urp-!!"

Her eyes went about as wide as they could, fixed on the burger in her grip. Her mouth still full, she could feel a few loose bread crumbs tumbling down to her channelling robes. There was a tiny little figure inside of the burger itself, right between the lettuce and the cheese.

Needing to verbally process what she was seeing, she hastily gulped down the first bite of her burger.

"N-Nick...!?"

She couldn't believe the sight in front of her. There was a tiny, unmistakably human figure inside of her burger, waving a tiny arm in her direction. Phoenix was covered in sauce and burger grease at the moment, but Maya still recognized him instantly.

"Wh-what the heck are you doing in there...!?"

She had several other questions on her mind as well, but that was the one that came out first.

Hesitantly, she used two fingers to pinch at her tiny friend and extract him from her lunch. She wondered for a split-second if anyone else might have also been in her burger, but chose to focus on Nick for now, instead.

He was clinging to her index finger, his tiny body shaking. What was going on here...!?

Feeling breathless, she spoke up again.

"Nick, what happened...!?"

Why was he so small? How had it happened? Why was he crawling around inside of her burger? How had he even gotten in there...!?

There were too many questions to ask all at once.

She thought to look around for Franziska. There was no way that she hadn't noticed what had happened, right? It wouldn't make sense.

Her eyes slowly returned to her shrunken friend.

“Um… Nick, could you explain… all of this, actually…?”

 

--------

 

"S-so she... but wait, that's... WHAT!?"

Maya's indignant confusion was understandable. Phoenix had taken a couple of minutes to explain his situation, but Maya seemed to understand it even less now, if anything.

"... Yeah." he said. "It's nuts."

Maya frowned. "Yeah, you're tellin' me! That horrible jerk tried to get me to eat you!"

Phoenix shuddered. He didn't like to think about the idea any more than Maya did.

Maya moved to stand up from the stairs, but paused.

"... You're total mess, Nick." she said, looking him over. He had to agree; a generous coating of burger grease and sauce still covered his whole body and outfit. "We've gotta check out that machine again, but you should get cleaned up, too."

He nodded. "I think there was a bathroom down here, just-"

He was cut off by a sudden movement. Still held between a few of Maya's fingers, he was rushing up toward her face.

"W-wait, Maya...!!"

 

He frantically covered his head as Maya’s lips parted and she popped him right into her open mouth. Suddenly trapped in a damp, sweltering cavern, he didn't dare move, Maya's huge tongue shifting and rolling about all over his body.

He was mortified, to put it lightly. This was her idea of cleaning him...?

There was a very unpleasant feeling of suction all over him as Maya used her tongue to playfully jab at his tiny body, getting every last bit of residue from her burger off of him.

Finally, she pushed him into the soft hold of her lips, and then let him drop onto a spare napkin.

 

He coughed, still a bit behind in processing what the hell had just happened.

Maya was looking at him, and when he made eye contact, she grinned, giggling to herself.

"Now you're not a mess anymore!" she said brightly. "... Well, not from the burger, anyways..."

All he could do was groan. Maya was his best friend, but then again, she was also an extremely quirky young woman, to put it lightly...

"There was a bathroom..." he said wearily.

Maya glanced over her shoulder.

"Oh, yeah! Good idea, Nick, c'mon!"

With that, she got up, leaving her burger re-wrapped, and headed for the nearby door.

 

--------

 

A stream of warm water pouring over him from the faucet, Phoenix tossed his suit jacket aside. It was heavy and cold. Sure, he would probably have to just put it back on, since he didn't have anything else to wear besides what was under it, but for now, he wanted it off.

He was standing in the basin of a bathroom sink, with Maya still looming over him as the tap poured down upon him.

"Nick, I'm gonna go and check out that weird machine again, OK?" she prompted him. "You just get cleaned up."

She didn't let him object, just turning on her heel and leaving the little bathroom. Phoenix sighed again.

 

A couple of minutes later, he heard her footsteps again.

"Nick!"

He looked up. Maya was holding a tattered notebook of some kind, waving it in his view like it would mean something to him.

"What...?"

"This book! I just found it -- it's got all kinds of notes about that crazy shrinking machine!" she said.

He stepped back in surprise. By now, he wasn't under the stream of water anymore. Maya turned it off.

"See, it says..." she went on, flipping through a few pages. "... No, that's just the part about you being tougher... oh, right! It says that you should be much more resilient while you're at this size! So that’s cool... Anyway, here! The notes talk about how the machine can shrink a subject, but get this -- it's only temporary!"

"Huh...?"

"If this is right, you should be back to normal by tomorrow afternoon!"

He didn't really know what to say. That was fantastic news, for sure, but...

"... The trial!" he exclaimed, remembering. "We've still got to go to court tomorrow morning!"

Maya's grin vanished.

"Oh, crap..." she groaned. "I totally forgot... um..."

 

This was bad. He couldn't just show up to court at two inches tall...

"You defending at that size is gonna be pretty weird..." Maya mused, echoing his thoughts. "Hmm..."

They couldn't possibly get the trial postponed, could they...?

"Hey, Nick? Let's just head home for now, OK?"

He looked up. Maya had a point, at least. Staying in this basement wasn't putting him in a better mood. At least he could get more comfortable back at their law office and apartment.

"Uh... sure." he said, nodding. "Just let me get dried off, first."

"Oh, on it!" Maya said. "There are some towels here. Just hold on..."

 

--------

 

Having Maya dry him off was less weird than being shoved into her mouth to clean off his layer of burger grease, at least.

Once she had finished, Maya brought Phoenix back out of the little bathroom.

"I'm taking this notebook with me." she said. "Still gotta finish my burger, too."

She paused at the stairs.

"Uh... Nick, do you mind if I give you a different seat? We probably shouldn't let too many people see you outside..."

"... Right." he agreed. "Where were you-"

Maya cut him off again. She'd wasted no time in moving him, this time slipping him right into the fold in her robes beneath her tight sash. He was immobilized instantly, pinned to her stomach. He could barely move.

(Maya...! A little more warning, please...?)

 

--------

 

Maya scooped up her burger, as well as the bag containing Phoenix's untouched chicken sandwich. Maybe he could try eating a bit of it back at home?

(Ah, well. Enjoy the ride, Nick!)

 

--------

 

Maya was walking.

Of course she was walking. She really needed to get a bike. Phoenix had only needed to try letting her balance on the back of his bike while riding once to decide that it was a terrible idea.

Of course, alternately, he could always get around to learning to drive, but then, getting a car would sink their little office's finances even further...

 

Phoenix might have laughed at how mundane his current train of thought was, if he had the room for it.

There wasn't much else to do, stuffed inside of Maya's sash while she made her way back to the Wright and Co. Law Offices.

He could faintly hear her heartbeat, with his face pressed up against her stomach. The occasional, gross-sounding gurgle, as well. He did his best not to acknowledge that Franziska had genuinely tried to trick Maya into eating him. Just being this close to her stomach from the outside was unpleasant enough already.

 

Maya kept things in here pretty regularly, now that he thought about it. Usually wrapped pieces of candy, or notes she'd scribbled when they were out for a case. She kept her robes pretty clean, so the cramped nature of his current environment was about the only real downside to finding himself shoved into her makeshift pocket for transport.

... No, wait, it was too warm, as well. Phoenix gave a muffled sigh. This was going to be a long walk.

Phoenix nodded off at some point, the swaying movements of his position inside of Maya’s sash creating an almost hypnotic effect. Eventually, he was awoken again by something gently jabbing at his upper back. Maya was prodding at him from above.

Waking up in such a cramped, warm space was confusing for a second or so, before he recollected himself.

Pale fingertips appeared at his sides, and Maya pulled him back out into view.

 

They were back in the office. He felt relieved at seeing the familiar sights, even if they were presently much too big.

"Sorry I didn't have a better place to hide you, Nick. I needed my hands for this big notebook, y'know?" Maya said, checking him over. "You're OK, though?"

She let him stand up in her palm, and he stretched, testing his movements.

"... Yep. Not feeling too bad."

"Great!" Maya said with a bright grin. "So, you still hungry? I brought your sandwich home, too."

"Oh." he said, surprised. He'd entirely forgotten about his own lunch, actually. "... Sure!"

 

--------

 

For a while, Phoenix sat on the surface of the office's little table, doing his best to make a decent lunch from his incredibly oversized chicken sandwich. It was alright, though difficult to eat, given his own puny size.

Maya was sitting on one of the couches directly in front of the table. For once, she'd resisted the urge to put her feet up. He always told her not to do that, but she rarely listened. Today she'd been more agreeable, however, joking that he didn't really need to be forced to share his lunch area with her feet. He appreciated the gesture, if not the precise phrasing.

 

Maya was once again studying the battered notebook with interest, seeming keen on learning whatever she could about the machine that had caused Phoenix to shrink.

"So..." she said eventually, "I mentioned reading in here that you should be super-tough now. That's pretty cool! You don't have to worry about anyone stepping on you!"

He rolled his eyes.

"Great. Keep me off the ground anyway, please."

Maya laughed.

"Don't you wanna test it? I could help!" she continued. At this suggestion, she raised one of her feet into view, her sandal dangling a bit from its place on her foot.

Another eye-roll.

"... You're no fun. C'mon, Nick -- just once? We can make it a game!"

"... A game?" he repeated. It probably wasn't worth the risk of getting Maya's imagination going, but still, he felt a moment's curiosity at what sort of idea she had in mind.

"Yeah! I could put you on the floor, and, uh... ooh! You stay down there and try to run away from me, while I try and squish you!"

He immediately flinched at her words, and Maya shrugged.

"Well, you won't really get squished, obviously, if this book’s right. I'll just try and put a foot down on you, while you try to dodge!"

 

By now, Phoenix was finished with the portion of his sandwich that he wanted to eat, and he got to his feet, dusting off a bit. His suit didn’t feel so bad now, though it was still going to have to be replaced after the time it spent buried inside of a burger.

"Somehow, I think that's the kind of game that would only be fun for one of us." he remarked. Maya struck her familiar, cute pout.

"Aw, c'mon, Nick. You can be such a stick-in-the-mud. You just need to let yourself have fun with it, too! Run around and get some good exercise -- I'll take it easy on you!"

He managed a laugh. Maya was really set on this, despite how obviously bad an idea it was.

... Still, maybe it wasn't completely unreasonable. She would be careful, right...?

He hoped so. Maya would never want him to get seriously hurt, least of all by her. Still...

 

Against his better judgment, he looked up at her again, folding his arms.

"... Alright, fine. One round. Just get us a clean stretch of floor."

Maya's pout instantly vanished, replaced with a huge grin.

"Ha! You bet, Nick! This is gonna be great!"

He doubted that, though at this point, he was in too deep to change his mind and argue.

 

--------

 

They were upstairs, in the apartment over the law office now.

Maya had moved some of the furniture around, creating what was, to her, a fairly large and open space in their little living room area. To Phoenix, naturally, it was quite a substantial space, more like a sports field than just a cleared stretch of apartment floor. He had wondered if the carpet might be difficult for him to move around on, given his puny size, but it wasn't too bad, so long as he watched his footing.

 

Maya was in the bathroom at the moment. Phoenix had agreed to take part in her weird little idea for a game, but only on the condition that she gave her feet a wash before beginning. She'd been walking around outside in her open sandals for a pretty large chunk of the day already, and he wasn't willing to bet against the possibility of being stomped into the carpet by her unless she'd cleaned up a bit first.

 

She returned after a few minutes, walking barefoot toward him, her sandals left by the bathroom door. She stopped just in front of his position on the floor, smiling. Phoenix doubted that the way she placed her toes directly in front of him was a coincidence, particularly when she began to playfully wriggle the oversized digits around.

"Ready, Nick? I wanna get started!"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess!" he called out, wishing Maya had just crouched down so he wouldn't have to yell.

Maya looked too excited. She seemed to already be enjoying herself, just standing over him like this.

"OK! So, you can start running around. To keep it fair, I'm only gonna take one step at a time, and... y'know, kinda pivot? On one foot?"

She demonstrated the move. Phoenix nodded. That did seem fair, considering the ridiculous difference in size between them.

"I'm gonna take ten steps at you. If I don't get you in ten tries, then you win." Maya went on. "OK, get running!"

 

He did so, beginning at a brisk jog. His clothes finally felt dry again, making moving around more comfortable.

Maya was counting down from five.

"Now!"

 

-WHAM-

 

He let out a startled yelp, stumbling and falling to the ground. Maya had swung a foot forward, and it had slammed powerfully down just a short distance from his position. The impact was enough to make the floor rumble, knocking him off-balance.

He got up. Maya was already counting down again.

 

-WHAM-

 

He staggered, but managed to stay on his feet this time. That impact had been even closer. He was panting already.

Another countdown, and...

 

-WHAM-

 

He'd been forced to come to a very sudden stop as Maya managed to stomp her bare foot down directly in front of him. If he hadn't stopped just in time, she would've gotten him.

 

"Ugh! Well, good dodge, Nick..."

He wasn't going to be able to keep this up. He was feeling tired already just from the shock of her footfalls. That was something he’d failed to anticipate. Did Maya really need to stomp down with such force, just because that notebook gave her reason to believe it wouldn’t hurt him?

"I've gotcha this time...!"

 

Another devastating crash. Maya had missed him by a mere inch this time, the side of her foot nearly touching him. He wobbled on the spot, trying to turn.

He heard a laugh, and Maya's other foot swung into view.

The fifth dodge was somehow even closer than the last, and this time, Phoenix ended up on his back on the floor.

Exhaustion was setting in already. He groaned, looking upward as Maya began to count down yet again.

He suddenly felt a stab of embarrassment; he was on the ground, positioned directly between Maya's feet at the moment, and she was unwittingly giving him a rather spectacular view straight up into the interior of her loose-fitting channelling robes.

He closed his eyes and pushed himself up again, trying to banish the image of a long pair of pale-skinned legs and a set of purple panties from his mind. Now really wasn't the time.

 

"Ha!"

He had to dive right off his feet, landing on his front with an uncomfortable thump.

 

-WHAM-

 

The floor rumbled for a sixth time. He could manage four more, right...? Crawling into motion, his body feeling sore already, Phoenix got up and broke into a staggered run again. He had an idea, heading for the space behind Maya. There was no way she could get him in a single move, if he was behind her.

As he'd hoped, she had to waste her seventh step on a pivot to follow him.

"Ooh, smart move, Nick..." she said, "Buuut..."

Unexpectedly, a shadow fell over him.

"H-huh...?"

 

-WHUMP-

 

He crumpled instantly, face-first against the floor again, and with an incredible weight pushing down on him. He let out a muffled groan into the carpet.

(D-damn it...)

Maya had gotten him, surprising him with a sudden, wild step backward. She gave a victorious cheer, which sounded similarly muffled to Phoenix, given his current position under her foot.

"Ha! With two more to spare! Good try, Nick!"

(Ow...)

He didn't feel injured, so this seemed to confirm what the notebook had said about his condition. Still, being flattened to the floor with the sole of Maya's incredibly heavy foot on his back didn't feel great.

He wriggled in place, trying to signal to her that he wanted her to get off.

"Hmm... dunno, Nick, I had to work pretty hard for this..."

He groaned. Of course Maya would decide to play around a bit with the terms of the deal, last minute...

 

A movement caught him off-guard. Maya had somehow gotten two of her toes around his head, and the huge digits teasingly squeezed at him a bit, brushing up against his spiky hair. At least they were clean...

He heard a giggle.

"Your hair is tickling me, Nick..."

She continued to tease at him with her toes, evidently not bothered by the sensation at all.

(Ugh... c'mon, Maya, knock it off already...)

"... Actually, my feet are kinda sore.” she said thoughtfully, “That was a lot of walking we did today, y'know? I even had to carry you! Mind giving the winner a little foot rub, Nick?"

 

If he had space to lift his head and thump it back down against the floor, he would've done so.

 

--------

 

Phoenix was deeply regretting ever agreeing to take part in Maya's "game".

Still on the floor, he was now faced with his gigantic assistant's bare feet, her toes playfully wriggling in his direction. Between the two, he could see Maya's face a fair distance off, an expectant grin on her face.

"Well, Nick? You lost, so don't keep a girl waiting...!"

He sighed. There wasn't really a way around this. Maya would make sure of that.

Once again feeling incredibly glad that he'd convinced her to at least wash her feet first, he stepped forward. This wasn’t going to be an easy task, given his puny size. Maya’s feet were well over twice his height, even cocked slightly to her sides.

 

--------

 

Maya leaned back against the base of the couch, arms folded behind her head. Her eyes were closed, and she had a relaxed grin on her face, which twitched as she reacted to the appearance of a tickling sensation against her right foot. She giggled.

"Nick, you're supposed to be giving me a massage, not just tickling me...!"

He probably couldn't help it. He was pretty tiny. Even if he was a fairly strong guy normally, at that size, there wasn't much he could hope to do.

She shifted her feet, swapping the other into place for him.

"OK, next one!"

More tickling. She tried to suppress any further giggles, with little success. Nick’s little hands were moving all over the portion of her sole he could reach, and the sensation was driving her crazy.

 

Eventually, she got another idea.

Adjusting herself to a more upright position, she set both feet down around Phoenix's sides. He looked up at her nervously, but she just grinned in response.

"Let's change this up a bit, OK, Nick? Different definition of 'foot massage'."

He seemed to get the message only just in time to flash a brief look of panic before she snapped her feet together on him.

Giving up on any effort to hide her laughter, Maya teasingly squeezed at Phoenix's puny frame between her soles, watching him frantically try to fight back. His tiny arms were flailing helplessly whenever they got the chance, before winding up pinned between her soles for another few seconds at a time.

She moved her feet to position him directly against her toes next, batting at him with them while he continued his awkward efforts to resist. The poor little lawyer just didn't stand a chance. She began to notice an even greater tickling sensation, which she deduced after a moment to be the result of his signature spiky hair rubbing up between her toes.

 

Finally, she stopped, and when she separated her feet again, Phoenix immediately flopped to the floor.

"Ooh. Sorry, Nick, was that too rough? Here..."

She scooped her tiny friend up. He wasn't moving around quite as much now.

Maybe he deserved a break.

 

--------

 

Maya had been busy for quite a while now.

In the aftermath of her "game", Phoenix had been left feeling rather exhausted. Fortunately, Maya was observant enough to pick this up, and had brought him over to the apartment's couch, setting him down on a very comfortable pillow and leaving the room for a while, letting him rest.

 

... This had been a long day. It was fairly late in the afternoon at this point, but it was difficult for Phoenix to look forward to a relaxing evening with the prospect of having to go to the courthouse the next morning at this shrunken size hanging over his head.

He sighed, currently lying on his back on the pillow. He'd defended a client despite having temporary memory loss at one point in the past. He could probably handle doing so while he was about two inches tall, right...?

There was no way they could delay the trial an extra day, so he would just have to give it his best effort.

 

Finally, Maya returned.

She'd changed her clothes, now wearing pajama pants and a Steel Samurai promotional t-shirt she'd received from the TV studio behind the series.

"Hey, Nick! Hope you're up for that Pink Princess marathon I've been talking about!"

Still lying on his back, his expression changed to a look of sudden realization.

"Oh, dammit..." he groaned.

In all the chaos of the day, he'd totally forgotten, but yes -- Maya had been telling him about an upcoming marathon of episodes she wanted him to sit through with her. He was pretty sure that it was something like fifteen episodes of the show's most recent story arc leading up to a three-part season finale, or something like that. It wasn't as if he kept up with Steel Samurai spin-offs outside of whatever Maya talked him into watching.

That was tonight...?

 

His pillow bounced, launching him into the air for a moment as Maya flopped down on the couch right beside him.

He sat up once he'd landed again. Maya loomed over him, grinning. She was holding a spectacularly large bowl of popcorn. She offered a single kernel.

"Want one?" she asked, waving it in his direction in what was probably supposed to be a tantalizing manner. He paused.

With another weary sigh, he accepted the popcorn kernel, needing both hands to take it from Maya's fingertips. It was more than half the size of his whole body.

He didn't like to imagine what kind of effects it might have on his shrunken digestive system if he ate too much of it. Still, it was better than eating nothing.

 

Maya left the bowl behind for a moment, going to set up the TV. This was just going to be their whole evening, Phoenix supposed.

At least the Steel Samurai TV series and its many spin-offs had decent production values. He would probably be totally lost on most of the plot developments, but the action was worth a watch.

 

When Maya came back, with the TV ready to go, she picked Phoenix gently up from his spot on the pillow, surprising him.

"Oops..." she said, noticing that he'd dropped his piece of popcorn. She picked it up as well, turning to sit down on the pillow in his place. "Here you go, Nick, you can sit with me!"

 

She perched him on her right shoulder, brushing some of her long hair out of the way and handing back his popcorn.

"Thanks. ... We're really watching this entire thing, Maya...?"

"You bet!" she answered cheerfully. "C'mon, Nick -- you've gotta cool off for a while after how crazy today's been. Plus, you've totally been slacking on watching Pink Princess anyways!"

"Not by mistake..." he muttered.

"Heard that, Nick. You're tiny, but I'm not deaf!" Maya laughed.

She scooped up her popcorn bowl again. The show was minutes from starting.

 

--------

 

An hour and a half in, Phoenix's mind felt numb.

The Pink Princess wasn't a bad show. It just also wasn't the kind of thing he could watch for hours on end without feeling like he was losing his mind. Maybe it was the over-the-top performances from the cast, or the eccentric costume design. He wasn’t sure, really.

One way or another, Maya was going to make him sit through this entire marathon, just so she could get to the final three episodes.

 

--------

 

They were somewhere past the three-hour mark. Maya was gone from the room for a bathroom break.

Her popcorn bowl was long-since emptied, and Phoenix had eaten more than enough of his single piece to be satisfied. Maya had just popped it into her own mouth once he was done with it.

 

She was coming back. Phoenix was sitting alone on the pillow again, expecting her to pick him up.

Instead, Maya circled around the front of the couch, grabbing the TV remote.

To Phoenix's considerable alarm, she wasn't looking at him.

"Uh... Maya?" he called out. She had stopped right in front of him, still focused on the TV. "W-wait -- MAYA!!"

He scrambled to his feet, but that was all he had time for as Maya's vast body dropped toward the couch, her backside coming down toward him at a terrifying speed, patterned pajama pants filling his entire field of vision.

 

-WHUMP-

 

He let out a yell, hurtling through the air. Maya had narrowly missed sitting down on him, which was a relief, but the impact had launched him off the couch again, this time to a considerably greater height than before.

He heard Maya's voice amidst his own panicked yelling.

"Oof-!!"

He coughed, finding himself lying on his front.

He was in Maya's open palm.

 

"Oh, man...!” Maya was saying apologetically, “I'm really sorry, Nick! I got totally distracted... you're OK, right?"

He groaned, which seemed satisfactory to Maya.

"Good. Only a few episodes left!"

And back to her shoulder he went. At least he was wide awake again.

 

--------

 

They were finally onto one of the new episodes now. If had hadn't known already, Phoenix likely would have guessed based on the sudden difference in Maya's excitement level. She'd previously been fairly relaxed, though obviously as engaged in the show as was to be expected of such a huge fan. Now, however, she could barely manage to sit still.

"Whoa..." Phoenix wobbled a bit, trying to regain his balance after Maya had shifted forward suddenly. She was so focused on the show at this point that he wondered if she even remembered where he was.

"Uh, Maya-"

He broke off, his eyes widening. Maya had lurched back again, and this time, he wasn't ready. His body rocked forward instead, unable to keep pace with her movement, and he tumbled straight off of her shoulder.

"M-Mayaaa-!!"

 

Once again, his yell was cut off. He'd crash-landed somewhere, the world going a bit dark.

He blinked, finding himself upside down. Where was this...?

He heard a confused noise, and then a laugh. The laugh caused all the space around him to shudder.

His stomach flipped over, recognition settling in. He'd fallen straight into the loose neckline of Maya's t-shirt.

To his sides, he was flanked by what looked like a pair of twin landmasses, each protruding from Maya's body far enough that they would have been taller than he was, if she was lying on her back.

... Even for someone fairly close to flat-chested, Maya's breasts looked pretty impressive from this angle.

 

Phoenix shook his head. What the hell was he thinking about that for...?

He'd landed on Maya's chest, directly between her fairly small breasts. Below his position, the depths of her t-shirt just got darker. Could he get back out from here...?

He was a bit afraid to try and move. Craning his neck, he tried to get a look back up at Maya.

Right on time, she used a fingertip to tug her shirt open a bit.

"Heya, Nick! What, did you get bored of my shoulder?"

He was certain that he was blushing like mad. On his back, with his upper body pointed down into the lower reaches of Maya's shirt, he couldn't easily move without risk of sliding even further down.

"Guess I could help you, but... well, you didn't really wanna keep watching anyway, huh? Why don't you just get comfy in there, instead?"

"Wh-... M-Maya...!!"

Too late. With another little giggle, she'd released the opening in her shirt and returned her attention to the TV.

She was just going to leave him here, between her boobs...?

... He was still afraid to try and move.

 

--------

 

He was no longer sure of how long he’d spent in here by the time he heard a noisy yawn from Maya. Her chest shifted strangely beneath him.

His face still felt very warm any time he glanced around and saw her breasts to his sides.

She didn't even wear a bra...

Well, come to think of it, he'd never seen one in her laundry, so he supposed that made sense.

... Why was his train of thought going in that direction again...?

 

He took a brief glance at his lower body, still angled up from his position. A stab of shame welled up in his chest as he realized that he had a visible tent in the front of his suit pants.

(Please don't look down right now, Maya...)

He didn't need his assistant noticing that she'd casually given him a boner.

"Hey, Nick? Show's almost over. I'm gonna just crash on the couch, OK?" Maya said in a sleepy voice.

He looked up again. What did that mean for him? Why wasn’t she lifting him out…?

 

He got his answer barely two seconds later. Maya's whole body shifted into motion, and Phoenix yelled in alarm again as she hurtled toward the ground, carrying him straight down with her.

 

With a heavy impact all around him, Maya flopped down on her front, her chest coming down on top of him.

At some point or another, mercifully, Phoenix had managed to fall asleep.

 

This wasn’t the first time in the three years they had known each other that he and Maya had fallen asleep on the apartment’s couch. Of course, most of the times that it had happened before, he was lying comfortably on his back with Maya eventually snuggling into his chest.

They’d become quite comfortable with that kind of contact over time. It wasn’t really awkward for either of them anymore.

This arrangement, however, fit firmly under the heading of “still awkward” for Phoenix.

 

He was waking up, finding himself still pinned to the couch by just as much weight as the evening before. He was still inside of Maya’s shirt, with most of his body pinned beneath her chest. His head was free, along with the majority of one of his arms, but that wasn’t enough to let him get anywhere.

 

He could feel the warmth of her body heat all around him, and her gentle snores causing her chest to shift against him.

There was enough light outside of Maya’s t-shirt to see her face resting against one of the pillows on the couch. That probably meant that it was the early morning by now. Maya was definitely an early riser on the majority of mornings. They had to be ready for the trial, so the shrunken defence attorney could only hope that his assistant didn’t choose today of all mornings to sleep in.

He thought about wriggling around a bit to try and wake her up. With a quick glance around, he remembered that he was flanked on both sides by her breasts, and he dismissed the idea, groaning into the fabric of her shirt.

 

Almost like it had been on cue, however, Maya began to stir just seconds later.

“Mm…”

Her body shifted a bit. One of her hands rose to her face, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

“Hm…?”

She twitched, pausing for a few seconds.

“… Nick, you’re still there, right?” she asked aloud.

“Ugh…” He moved his free arm, awkwardly rapping the back of his hand against the firm ceiling of her chest.

“Oh, good!”

With that, Maya slowly rose from the couch, moving to a sitting position. Phoenix made a startled noise, awkwardly scrambling against the interior of the t-shirt. He slipped downward a bit, past Maya’s small breasts, and wound up upside-down in her lap when he stopped moving.

One of Maya’s hands appeared, pushing its way inside of her shirt to locate him and dig him back out. He was pretty sure that he was blushing.

 

--------

 

“Morning, Nick!”

 

Maya was doing her best not to flush red in the face. Waking up had been weird. She remembered in pretty short order that she’d fallen asleep on the couch, with Nick tucked down her shirt. It had been funny to her initially, but now, it just felt kind of embarrassing.

She absolutely wouldn’t be telling him about it, but while she’d been sleeping, she had experienced a bit of an… unusual dream. A dream about Nick.

 

A rather sexual dream about Nick, to be more specific. Truth be told, it wasn’t the very first time it had ever happened, but she usually didn’t wake up with Nick right there, in physical contact with her body immediately afterward.

Hopefully she wasn’t too obviously embarrassed. Nick would start asking questions…

 

He was standing up in her lap now, stretching. He probably felt pretty stiff after sleeping in a position like that.

Seeing him right down there wasn’t helping with her embarrassment. The details of her dream were already fading, but when she closed her eyes, she saw a flash of her shrunken attorney friend wriggling between her fingers as he was slowly lowered straight into the opening of her panties, her other hand holding her underwear open to catch him-

 

She bit her lip, forcing her eyes open again. It was definitely time to put that out of her mind.

 

“What’s the time?” she heard Phoenix ask, in the middle of a yawn. She looked around, her hazy mind briefly forgetting where to find the clock.

“Uh… just a little past eight.” she answered.

“Hm. Better hurry, then. We should grab something to eat before we get going. This is gonna be a seriously weird way for me to show up to the trial, though. … Any chance you’ve thought of anything to make this work?”

Maya nodded, smiling. “Yep! I’ve actually got a pretty good idea!”

 

--------

 

An hour and a half later, they were standing in the courthouse, defendant lobby number three.

 

Their client was standing in front of Maya, understandably a bit shocked by learning what had happened to her attorney the day before.

“So, Mr. Wright…” Dr. Airie Xemple was saying, her nervous eyes locked on the shrunken figure standing in Maya’s open palm, “You’ll still be able to defend in that state?”

 

Phoenix shrugged. “Assuming that the courthouse staff doesn’t decide to call pest control on me, yes.”

Dr. Xemple managed a small, uncertain smile. “Well, I’m very glad to hear that, at least. I’m so, so sorry that this happened to you… I had no idea that the prototype Dr. Smalls was working on might actually… well, actually be able to do this.” she said, ending the reply with a small wave in his direction.

“It was pretty crazy to find him like this.” Maya remarked. “Nick could’ve gotten into serious trouble if I hadn’t found him!”

Down in Maya’s palm, Phoenix rolled his eyes.

 

(Sure, Maya, don’t mention that the “trouble” you’re talking about was you almost making me your lunch.)

 

A voice interrupted from nearby.

 

“Defence, it’s time for you and your client to enter the courtroom.”

“Got it!” Maya called out over her shoulder. “On the way!”

She looked down at Phoenix again, still standing in her palm.

“OK, Nick, you ready?”

“As ready as a two inch-tall lawyer can be, I'm pretty sure. Let’s get going, Maya.”

 

--------

 

The courtroom was filled with roughly its usual level of rumbling noise from the gallery. Maya was standing at the defence bench, fairly sure that she could hear a few comments here and there about the apparent absence of the expected defence attorney.

“What’s going on?” someone audibly wondered aloud. “That’s that mousey girl who’s always hanging around with Wright, but where is he? Don’t tell me she somehow managed to become a lawyer, too…”

Maya bit back the urge to snap back with a remark of her own. She’d been in this courtroom plenty of times! She would’ve known what she was doing, even if Nick wasn’t ready to defend…

 

Finally, the Judge’s gavel clapped down, and the gallery fell silent.

“Court is now in session for-…”

The old man’s voice trailled off.

“Erm… Ms. Fey?” he asked aloud. “Where is Mr. Wright? Surely you aren’t planning to argue this case on your own…?”

Maya groaned quietly.

(Don’t the bailiffs tell this old fart anything…?)

She cleared her throat.

“Um, Your Honour, he’s actually right here with me.” she said, pointing a finger toward her robes. She wasn’t finished her explanation yet, but the Judge spoke up again before she could continue.

“Er, now, Ms. Fey, it’s very sweet of you to say that Mr. Wright is with you in spirit, but I’m afraid-…”

“Uh, no, Your Honour, I mean he’s right here.” she interrupted, not really feeling patient enough to deal with this kind of thing right now. She again jabbed a finger toward her chest, indicating the tiny figure that she’d tucked into the frontmost fold of her robes. Phoenix was perched there, his upper body exposed against her chest. Beside him, she was wearing a small microphone pack.

The Judge blinked in confusion, and was about to inquire further when the bailiff finally appeared, whispering something to him.

“B-but that’s… Mr. Wright? How in the world did this happen to you?”

“Lab accident.” Maya said. “No offence, Your Honour, but aren’t we supposed to be starting?”

There was a rumble from the gallery again.

 

Franziska was standing opposite them, leaning over the prosecution bench with a smirk on her face. It was a bit uncomfortable seeing her again, Phoenix had to admit, after she’d tried to feed him to Maya the day before. She spoke up for herself.

“The bite-sized Phoenix Wright had a small accident during his investigation yesterday afternoon.” she said. “He has experienced a bit of… I believe the word is ‘shrinkage’.”

Maya heard a small laugh from somewhere behind her. The Judge clapped his gavel down again.

“Very well.” he said, though he sounded a bit uncertain. “If everything is in order, then court is now in session for the trial of Dr. Airie Xemple.”

“The prosecution is ready, Your Honour.” Franziska said, straightening up. She was still smirking.

“The defence is-…” Phoenix looked up at Maya. “Maya, the mic!”

“Oh. Oops. Sorry, Nick!” she said, reaching down to flip the small switch and turn the microphone on.

Phoenix shook his head.

(This is gonna go wonderfully.)

“The defence is ready, Your Honour.”

The Judge nodded. “Prosecutor von Karma, your first witness?”

 

--------

 

The trial’s proceedings began roughly as normal. Seemingly the only detective ever given any work to do in this city, Dick Gumshoe was called to the stand. He recounted the case’s details in his typical, mildly bumbling manner. Phoenix asked a short list of questions, finding at one point that Maya had accidentally switched his mic off again.

 

The prosecution’s opinion was that the victim, Dr. Connor Smalls, had been alone in his lab on the day of the murder, when he had been visited by Dr. Xemple. Dr. Xemple herself had indeed gone to the victim’s lab to see him on that day, but insisted that she had merely discovered the scene of his apparent murder, calling the police once she was over the initial shock of the discovery.

Detective Gumshoe went on to describe the manner of the victim’s death. Dr. Smalls had been found slumped in his desk chair when the police arrived, but the prosecution claimed that Dr. Xemple had moved his body there after his death.

In the same basement lab, a loose bookcase had been lying on the ground, apparently knocked over at some point that day. Dr. Xemple insisted that she had discovered the victim at his desk, and in her state of shock, accidentally backed into the bookcase, knocking it over. Detective Gumshoe, however, instead suggested that the bookcase had in fact been deliberately pushed over on top of the victim, accounting for an unusual pattern of bruises that covered his front.

 

“Objection!” Phoenix yelled, recalling what he’d read from the case notes, which were lying on the defence bench in front of Maya. To his confusion, Detective Gumshoe didn’t stop speaking.

Maya was looking down at him.

“Crap…! Sorry, Nick…”

She switched the mic back on for a third time.

“OBJECTION!”

This time, Gumshoe fell silent.

“Sorry, Detective,” Phoenix said, “But your story’s not adding up. Your own autopsy report states that the victim died as a result of asphyxiation, not being crushed under a bookcase.”

“Objection!” Franziska shouted back, clearly ready for such a question. “Do be patient, before you foolishly run your tiny mouth, Phoenix Wright.” she said. “Our scruffy detective claimed no such thing. If you can stand waiting just a minute or so, my next witness will explain. You can do that, can’t you?”

 

Phoenix sighed. Franziska was condescending on a normal day. She clearly felt even more comfortable behaving this way when he was smaller than her thumb.

The Judge nodded. “Very well. If you have no further questions, Mr. Wright, the prosecution may call their next witness.”

 

--------

 

Detective Gumshoe left the stand, and the next witness arrived. She was a strawberry-blond young woman, most likely in her late twenties. Phoenix had a guess as to who she was. Dr. Smalls had a part-time lab assistant, who he and Maya had tried but failed to get in contact with during their investigation.

 

“Witness, your name and occupation.” Franziska said shortly.

The young woman, dressed in a very casual autumn jacket and jeans, nodded.

“Sarah Flatt.” she said. “Lab assistant for Dr. Smalls. Well, part-time, anyway. … Is it ex-assistant now…?”

A loud crack sounded as Franziska drew the whip she always carried around and swung it in the witness’s direction.

“Save your foolish personal mutterings for after your testimony.” she said impatiently. “Now, you will testify about your activities on the day of your employer’s murder.”

 

“Right…” Sarah said, looking uncertainly in Franziska’s direction. “Uh… so, I usually work in the evenings. Dr. Smalls is-… was always staying up super-late with whatever he was working on. He just wanted me to keep an eye on something that night, but he didn’t really explain much. He never did, actually. Anyway, he wasn’t there when I showed up. I hadn’t seen him since the night before, so I dunno where he went. I sat down at his desk to wait, ‘cuz his chair’s way more comfortable than mine. I was probably there for… maybe half an hour? Doc never showed up, which is weird for him, so I packed up and went home again.”

 

Phoenix checked his mic. It was actually on, this time.

“Half an hour? Is that accurate?” he asked.

“Give or take.” Sarah answered with a shrug. “Like I said, Tiny, he never showed up, either way.”

 

Phoenix chose to ignore the minor jab.

“The bookcase in the lab. Was it still upright when you arrived? When you left?”

Sarah nodded. “Yep. Still standing, right there in the middle of the friggin’ room. I was always telling him that was a dumb place for it.”

 

Phoenix glanced down at the crime scene photo on the bench.

“There was a set of headphones on the victim’s desk.” he said. “You said that you sat down there. Are they yours?”

“Yep.” Sarah replied. “I was getting kinda annoyed that the Doc wasn’t showing up, and I forgot them there. Figured I could just grab them when I came back in the next day.”

 

Nothing was providing the opening Phoenix needed yet.

“So, while you were in the lab, did you see the defendant, Dr. Xemple?” he asked next.

“No.” Sarah said plainly. “Doc had a sticky note on his desk saying to call her, though.”

Franziska’s smirk noticeably widened a bit.

“… You said that you sat at the victim’s desk? That’s where he was found, not too long after you say that you left.” Phoenix said.

“… Yeah? Why d’you ask?” Sarah inquired. “Like I said – his chair’s way comfier than mine. Well… it normally is. It felt kinda weird that night, actually.”

 

“Objection! This is a pointless line of questioning, Your Honour.” Franziska interrupted.

The Judge nodded. “Agreed. Mr. Wright, if you don’t have anything else substantial to ask…”

“Uh…”

 

Phoenix looked down at his scattered case notes again. At the same time, Maya's hair beads swung a bit in his peripheral vision, indicating that she was doing the same. Sitting here in the front of her robes was still proving to be hard to get used to.

They had a clearer picture of the scene just before the apparent arrival of Dr. Xemple in the lab, but nothing that might help to clear her. So far, it still appeared that she was the only other person to enter the lab aside from the victim himself, and her claims about what happened wouldn’t be good enough alone…

 

“… In that case, witness, you may leave the stand.” the Judge continued.

“Huh. That was quicker than I was expecting.” Sarah remarked. "The news always makes this whole ‘witness’ thing seem like a total drag.”

“She’s taking her boss’s death pretty well, isn’t she?” Maya quietly remarked. “Doesn’t sound like they were very close.”

Phoenix was looking over the crime scene photo again. The victim’s front was covered in strange bruises, but he still didn’t buy into Franziska’s claim that they had come from the bookcase being pushed onto him.

(C’mon, we’re out of time… think…!)

He looked up just in time to see Sarah stepping away from the witness stand. She was a fairly tall woman, and his position in the front of Maya’s robes left him level with the middle of Sarah’s back. He suddenly spotted something.

 

“OBJECTION!”

Sarah paused.

“Uh… aren’t we done?” she asked, looking over her shoulder in his direction. No one else in the courtroom said anything, though Franziska had one of her hands on her whip once again.

“Ms. Flatt.” Phoenix inquired. “Strange question, but... those jeans you’re wearing. Is there any chance that you were wearing them on the night of the murder?”

 

…

 

There was a generous pause in the courtroom. Phoenix suddenly felt glad that he was too small for anyone but Maya to notice the blush creeping up his cheeks.

“Uhh… yeah, pretty sure. They’re my favourites.” Sarah said, glancing around in mild discomfort. “… Why does that matter?”

 

“Um, Nick?” Maya whispered. “No offence, but now’s really not the time for you to be asking her random questions about her pants.”

“M-Maya, just roll with it, please…”

Franziska’s whip cracked in the air again. Phoenix felt strangely relieved to be too small for her to strike him with it directly.

“Phoenix Wright, you may trade fashion tips with the witness after the Guilty verdict.” Franziska said, somehow managing to smirk even more widely. At this rate, her face was liable to split into two separate parts.

 

“L-look, just…” He groaned. He had an idea that he was starting to feel fairly confident in, but he needed a minute to clarify. “Ms. Flatt. There’s a pattern sewn into the back of your jeans.” he said. “I have a feeling I’ve seen it before.”

Sarah blinked, looking even more confused. “Uh…”

 

More awkward silence.

 

“Maya, hold up the crime scene photo, please.” Phoenix quietly requested. Maya was looking about as confused as Sarah by this point, but did so.

“Nick, that pattern…” she inquired under her breath, sounding a bit exasperated, “Were you looking at her butt …?”

He ignored the question for now.

 

“Your Honour. The victim’s front was covered in a pattern of bruises. Ms. von Karma claims they got there as a result of a bookcase being pushed onto him, but I have another theory. Ms. Flatt, uh…” He hesitated. “… I’m really sorry to ask this, but could you…”

“Wh-what, just present my ass to everyone here? Are all lawyers this crazy, or is it just the tiny ones…?” Sarah groaned. She turned, using one hand to lift her jacket away a touch.

Maya flinched, jostling Phoenix’s perch in her robes.

“Whoa, I think you’re right…! It’s totally a match! But…”

Phoenix smiled, finally feeling properly confident.

 

“Your Honour, my theory is a very different one. I believe we’ve been imagining the victim’s death the wrong way entirely.” he said. “Everyone in this courtroom can see what happened to me during my visit to the victim’s lab, right?”

“You foolishly shrunk yourself to the size of a particularly underachieving stick insect.” Franziska retorted. “What of it, Phoenix Wright?”

“Nick, are you seriously saying-…?”

He nodded. “I believe that the victim had the very same thing happen to him. In the basement lab where Dr. Smalls was found, there’s a prototype machine capable of shrinking a person to just a couple of inches tall. The defence posits that the victim inadvertently shrunk himself to about the same size that I am now. Now, he also had a notebook in his lab that my assistant here read through. It specifies that the shrinking effect only lasts roughly twenty-four hours, but that was more than enough time. I suspect that our witness, Ms. Sarah Flatt, entered the lab as she described, and went to sit down on her employer’s much more comfortable chair, unaware of what had happened to him.”

 

The gallery was getting a bit noisy again. The Judge clapped his gavel. Franziska was looking irritable, and eager to interrupt.

“Ms. Flatt says that she sat down in the chair for about a half an hour. Now, if she happened to miss that a certain someone was already in that chair when she sat down-…”

“Objection!” Franziska finally called out. “Phoenix Wright, are you really trying to claim that the witness sat down on the victim without noticing him? Nothing on our record suggests that Dr. Smalls was mute. He would have shouted and been noticed!”

 

Phoenix shook his head. “Witness, you said that the headphones found on the desk were yours? Were you wearing them while you were coming into work, by any chance?”

Sarah hesitated.

“… Yeah.” she said. “It’s against lab protocols, so I didn’t mention it. ... Thanks for selling me out, shrimp.”

“Uh, right, sorry… but in that case, you’ll note that I need this microphone for anyone but my assistant to hear me. By that logic, you probably wouldn’t have heard Dr. Smalls, if he was down on his chair and calling out to you.”

Sarah looked uncomfortable again. She clearly hadn’t expected anything like this.

 

“Objection!” Franziska interjected again. “Phoenix Wright, I realize that your brain is smaller than a grain of rice right now, but use your head. If the witness had accidentally taken a seat on top of the victim, he would have been crushed well before he could suffocate!”

“Objection!” Phoenix answered back. “I mentioned a notebook from Dr. Smalls himself. There was another note about the shrinking effect. It specified that anyone or anything that was shrunken down by the machine would also become significantly more durable until the effect wore off.”

“Objection!” Franziska was getting very irritated now. “That’s the second time you’ve mentioned this notebook, but there was no such thing entered as evidence!”

Phoenix’s stomach lurched.

 

“C-crap, she’s right…!” he stammered to himself. They hadn’t presented the notebook as evidence before the trial. Without having it officially approved, they couldn’t present it now…

Maya was looking down at him, but he had no idea of what to say. He was thinking things over frantically, suddenly at a loss again, until…

 

“Objection!”

 

Phoenix nearly slipped from his position in the front of Maya’s robes as she made a sudden move. Regaining his balance, he looked up in surprise.

“Maya…?”

All Phoenix could do for the moment was look up uncertainly from his restrictive position.

Maya had straightened up, and was doing her best impression of his signature finger-pointing pose. Had she practiced…?

“Sorry, but we can prove it without that dusty old notebook!” she said.

 

“Uhh… we can…?” Phoenix suddenly noticed Maya’s other hand. She was fiddling with his microphone again. “W-wait, Maya…!”

Too late. She’d switched the mic off, this time very deliberately. Her hand approached him next, pinching him from his spot in her robes and lifting him away to move him down to the defence bench, on top of the scattered papers there. What was she doing…?

 

Maya lowered her other arm, circling around the bench. Without his microphone close enough to ask, Phoenix had no idea of what she was planning.

Maya stopped in front of him, resting her hands on the bench, behind her back.

He suddenly got a horrible feeling.

“W-wait, wait, hold on, Maya…!!”

 

Maya shifted on the spot, like she was bending her knees. Phoenix’s eyes widened in alarm, and his mouth dropped open partway. He felt frozen to the spot.

Maya’s huge body rushed into motion as she pushed off from the bench, hopping from the floor. Staring in horror, Phoenix had no time to move before his assistant’s colossal rear hurtled down toward him, eclipsing the light above.

“O-OBJEC-“

 

-WHUMP-

 

The world went dark.

 

--------

 

Settling down on top of the defence bench, her legs dangling from its side, Maya could hear startled and alarmed reactions from the gallery behind her, as well as the group opposite her, behind Franziska’s bench.

“M-Ms. Fey! Wh-what in the world are you doing…!?” the Judge stammered. “Mr. Wright could be crushed like that, you must get back off of that bench immediately…!”

Maya waved a hand in an airy, casual motion.

“Don’t get all worked up, Your Honour – Nick’s fine! … Well, he’s kinda squirming a bit, but still…” she said, adjusting herself on her new seat. Phoenix was moving an awful lot underneath her, and his position down there made for a number of sensations that were considerably more awkward than she’d expected.

 

Across the courtroom, Franziska made a frustrated noise. “This entire idea is ridiculous!” she exclaimed. “Have you forgotten that the victim was not two inches tall, like Phoenix Wright, when he was found? Even if your scenario had happened, he would have been discovered in exactly that same shrunken state!”

Maya was about to respond, but paused, feeling another movement from the shrunken lawyer beneath her backside. Nick’s tiny legs were squirming around against her, and the way she’d landed on him, they were right between her thighs…

 

--------

 

What the hell was Maya thinking…!? She liked to mess with him sometimes, but even for her, this seemed ridiculously reckless.

Phoenix could barely budge, the immense weight of his gigantic assistant flattening him into the solid floor of the defence bench, pinning him on his back.

This was a much more direct method than they probably needed to prove his point.

(I appreciate the thought, Maya, but did you forget that we’re trying to prove someone died in exactly this same situation…!?)

He struggled. It took a whole lot of effort, and got him very little in the way of results. It was hard to identify exactly which part of Maya’s body was weighing down on him, but given her position, the list of possibilities wasn’t that long.

(This is either her butt that I’m feeling, or her… oh jeez, please get off of me, Maya…)

 

--------

 

(N-Nick, do you know exactly what part of me you’re poking around at down there…?)

Maya bit her lip, trying not to blush at the feeling Phoenix’s wriggling was causing. After clearing her throat, she responded, “Well, OK, sure. But weren’t you listening before? Nick-… uh, Mr. Wright said that the shrinking effect lasts about twenty-four hours. That’s what it said in that notebook. So… maybe, if the doctor accidentally shrunk himself on his chair a day earlier than we were thinking…”

“Ah!” the Judge exclaimed. “At such a small size, it would have been quite a scary thought to try and jump down from a chair all the way to the floor!”

Maya nodded, smiling. “I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what happened! The doctor accidentally shrunk the day before, and got stuck on his chair, waiting for it to wear off. He was probably getting close to the end of the twenty-four hours when Ms. Flatt came in, and if she didn’t notice him…”

 

“Objection…!” Franziska called out, clearly losing her cool. “That’s… th-this is…”

The Judge shook his head. “Overruled, Ms. von Karma. I believe the defence’s theory makes as much sense as yours does. If the victim really did die as a result of the witness unwittingly sitting on him until he suffocated, it’s entirely plausible that he could have returned to his normal size post-mortem, when the effect wore off afterward.”

“B-but there still isn’t any proof of this shrinking effect’s time limit!” Franziska argued. “No such notebook was ever presented as evidence!”

“Well, we can just wait, can’t we?” Maya suggested. Finally, she hopped back off of the defence bench, turning around to check on Phoenix. His struggles underneath her had been starting to fade, so this was probably a good time to let up on him. “Nick shrunk at about noon yesterday, and we’re getting pretty close to that time now.”

 

Franziska clearly wanted to argue back, but didn’t appear to be able to think of anything.

“Very well.” the Judge said in her place. “The court will have a fifteen-minute recess. Ms. von Karma, use this time to have forensics check the pattern of bruising on the victim’s body and compare it to the witness’s clothing. Ms. Fey… please refrain from sitting on Mr. Wright again, in the meantime.”

Maya laughed. “Alright, fine…”

 

--------

 

“Better move you down to the floor, OK, Nick? Sorry if it’s dusty down there.” Maya said, picking her shrunken friend back up from the top of the bench.

Phoenix groaned, clutching at Maya’s thumb as she moved him down.

“I’m pretty sure you didn’t need to actually sit on me to prove our point, Maya…” he said wearily.

“What? Aw, c’mon, Nick. Not even a little 'thank you'? How else were we gonna prove it?”

 

He hopped from Maya’s palm and onto the courtroom’s floor. To his surprise, he could see Franziska approaching, the sound of her heeled boots clicking in his ears. Wasn’t she supposed to be on the phone with the forensics unit right now…?

“So, Maya Fey.” she said, stopping directly in front of them. This position left Phoenix in the middle of the small space between the two colossal women, both looming unbelievably high over his head. “This notebook you keep foolishly mentioning. It says that a person becomes much more durable, in addition to shrinking when that machine is used on them?”

“Yep.” Maya said. “Nick’s doing just fine, even with me sitting on him back there!”

 

Phoenix felt rather concerned at the moment. Franziska’s tone was sounding a bit dangerous, and Maya didn’t appear to be getting the point. He wondered whether it might be a good idea to move closer to Maya, and away from the short-tempered prosecutor questioning her.

“Ah.” Franziska said shortly. “In that case…”

Phoenix felt his stomach drop to somewhere in the vicinity of his shoes. Franziska had lifted one of her high-heeled boots from the floor, and before he could try and run, she brought it straight down toward him.

 

-WHAM-

 

He hit the floor, face-first. Franziska’s boot had slammed down on him like a meteor, pasting him into the tile floor instantly. For a few seconds, his senses were knocked completely out of whack. Once they recovered, he half-expected to spit out a broken tooth, from how hard he'd crashed down.

 

"H-hey, don’t do that…!” Maya’s muffled voice could be faintly heard protesting. If he wasn’t mistaken, Franziska was actually twisting the toe of her boot around on top of him, grinding him into the courtroom floor for a second or two.

 

Mercifully, Franziska moved her boot away again, apparently satisfied. Maya immediately crouched to the floor, a huge and shaky hand approaching Phoenix.

“N-Nick, you’re OK, right…? She didn’t break anything…?”

Franziska was leaving, her heels clicking against the floor as she went.

“Oww…” Phoenix groaned, still prone on the floor. The pain he was feeling was similar to that of Franziska’s whip, except that it covered his entire body.

Maya gingerly scooped him up, taking a seat on the floor. “Um… maybe I should just watch you until the recess is over…?” she offered.

 

--------

 

Phoenix was left alone on the floor, a couple of feet in front of the towering defence bench, when the fifteen minutes came to an end.

He heard the gavel echoing across the vastness of the enlarged courtroom.

 

“Court will now reconvene.” the Judge said. “Ms. von Karma?”

Through gritted teeth, Franziska replied, “I have the results of the test. The victim’s bruising is a rough match for the stitched pattern on the witness’s jeans.”

 

A rumble was heard from the gallery. The Judge clapped his gavel down once more.

“I see. Ms. Fey, shouldn’t Mr. Wright be returning to his original size fairly soon?”

Down on the floor, Phoenix was starting to worry that he might not. By all appearances, he was right about how Dr. Smalls had died, and he had returned to his original size sometime after, but what if the machine didn’t always work quite right…?

“Yep! Any minute, I think.” Maya answered from behind the defence bench.

 

They waited. A minute passed, and then two.

 

Finally, Phoenix felt a strange sensation beginning to creep over his body. It wasn’t quite the same as what he’d felt when he first started to shrink, but similar enough. At last, he watched as the impossibly vast courtroom seemed to shrink in size all around him. He wanted to let out a laugh of relief, but this wasn’t really the time.

He heard the gallery rumbling with noise once again as he finally reached his original height again. Maya was grinning widely at him, and after dusting himself off, he walked back around the bench to join her.

Another strike of the gavel.

 

“Well, it appears that there is no further doubt in this case.” the Judge said. “Unless anyone has any further objections, I will hand down my verdict.”

Across the court, Franziska was positively seething, but she didn’t say a word, just leaning over her bench with an expression of outrage on her face.

“Very well.” the Judge went on. “I hereby find the defendant, Dr. Airie Xemple…”

 

NOT GUILTY

 

“Court is adjourned!”

 

--------

 

The immediate aftermath of the trial had been strange for Phoenix. He had spoken with grateful clients plenty of times in the past, but he rarely felt so incredibly relieved for himself. Just seeing the world at its appropriate scale again was almost overwhelming. This entire ordeal had put an unbelievable strain on his nerves.

 

--------

 

After leaving the courthouse, he had expected to walk straight back to the office, but Maya had grabbed his shoulder and redirected him, saying that they needed to make a stop back in the very same basement where he had accidentally activated the machine that shrunk him in the first place.

He had objected immediately, preferring to stay as far away from that building as possible, but Maya had been insistent, telling him that she had forgotten something important of hers there in all her panic over finding him shrunken down and struggling to escape from inside of her burger. So, with great hesitation, he had agreed, and now, the pair found themselves walking down the same staircase from the day before, returning to the dingy basement all over again.

 

Maya darted past him as he paused at the bottom of the stairs.

"I’ll check this side. You check the other one, OK?"

“Alright.” he said tiredly. “As long as we’re out of here in a hurry.”

Crossing the room, he approached the area where the bookcase was lying on the floor.

(Wait…)

Maya hadn’t actually bothered to tell him what they were looking for. He was willing to help her look, but he needed to know what he was actually searching for in the first place. He turned around.

“Hey, Maya? What’d-…”

 

He froze. Maya wasn’t searching the opposite side of the room, like he’d expected.

She was right next to the machine that had caused him to shrink a day ago, and it looked like...

“M-Maya…!?”

Before he could move, a loud, familiar noise split the silence of the room.

 

He was shrinking again.

“Maya, wh-what the hell are you doing…!?”

 

She hadn’t left anything behind down here at all. Phoenix staggered forward, but the same strange feeling from the day before was already settling in all over his body. He was shorter than Maya was now, and the process was speeding up.

When it stopped, Phoenix was once again left in the middle of a vast stretch of floor, staring around in complete disbelief. His breaths came out in stunned gasps.

Booming footsteps approached as Maya walked toward him, her sandals clapping down hard against the cool floor. She stopped, towering over him all over again.

His whole body shaking a bit, he looked up to see her grinning at him from high above, her face partially in shadow with the dingy lights impossibly far away casting only limited light down toward her.

 

This couldn’t be happening. Maya couldn’t have really just decided to shrink him again, completely deliberately.

 

“Surprise, Nick!” she said cheerfully, stooping down toward him. Her robes billowed around her knees as she moved downward. She reached a hand toward him, grabbing him off the floor.

“M-Maya, why…?” he asked once he was hovering in front of her face, too stunned and exasperated for a louder response.

She giggled. “Because it’s super-fun to have you around at this size, but we were worrying about a trial all afternoon yesterday, so there was no time to have any fun with it!”

He couldn’t believe this.

 

“You can handle one extra day, can’t you, Nick? You’ve got me taking care of you!”

Held in Maya’s palm again, he was staring down at the ground, slowly shaking his head in defeat. It was a bit late to argue.

“Maya, just… promise you aren’t gonna make me run around on the floor, dodging your feet again, OK…?”

 

Maya didn’t immediately say anything, and Phoenix looked up to see her again. Her expression had changed.

“Uh… Maya…?” Was she blushing…?

“Actually, Nick, I’ve got something kinda different in mind for you to do this time…” she said. Her tone sounded… weird. Very un-Maya, if that made sense.

 

She stood up, and Phoenix noticed her other hand moving around. His stomach lurched as his gigantic assistant untied the large sash she wore around her waist. Her robes loosened as the sash fell free in her grip. Staring in disbelief, he next saw her slip one of the folds in her robes away from her midsection, and when it had moved away, he found himself staring, mouth agape, at her exposed lower body. The very same set of violet panties he’d seen her wearing the day before was now left in plain view, Maya’s pale legs totally exposed.

“We can head back to the office now, Nick, but I’ve got a different seat picked out for you. See you later!”

 

His mouth felt very dry. Maya’s other hand moved toward her waist, and to his ever-growing disbelief, she used one fingertip to tug her panties away from her skin slightly, in the front.

Maya was moving him toward the opening she’d just created in her underwear. A tiny, trimmed patch of black hair was visible against her pale skin, just inside.

“Maya…!! MAYA!!”

She didn’t listen to his cries. Tilting her hand, Maya tipped him straight out of her palm and down toward the open front of her panties. He yelled in blind panic, tumbling straight into her underwear with nothing else to catch him.

 

--------

 

“Ngh~…!!”

Maya released her panties, letting them snap back into place. Her thighs shifted and twitched in response to the new sensations she could already feel down south. Nick was inside of her underwear now, pressed right up against her skin, and he was squirming around just as much as when she’d taken a seat on top of him, back in the courthouse.

“N-Nick, settle down in there~…” she groaned, pressing a hand gently against his position to try and calm him down.

It had the opposite effect, and Maya felt a heavy blush creeping up her cheeks as her tiny friend was pinned between her fingertips and the sensitive area he was now in direct contact with.

“H-hey…!” she said firmly, pressing against him more tightly. The contact was getting her very excited already. “You’d better stop squirming around in there! I mean it, Nick! I’m moving you into the back instead, if you keep that up!”

 

--------

 

Registering what Maya had just said, Phoenix froze, settling on his back against the interior layer of his colossal friend’s panties.

Was she serious…? He supposed there wasn’t much reason to doubt at this point, given that she’d already dropped him straight into her underwear in the first place. Still...

His breaths were slow and heavy. Just coming to grips with exactly where he was in the first place had been incredibly surreal, and he still wasn’t fully over the shock.

He forced his eyes closed for a second, collecting himself.

He was inside of Maya’s panties, sharing the limited space with her privates. Her labia dominated his view, and with every breath he took in, her scent filled his puny lungs. It was almost overwhelming on its own.

And she’d been pressing him directly against her lips, just a few seconds ago. He could’ve ended up inside of her entirely…

Maya’s sudden move had shocked him, but… as bizarre as it was, he didn’t feel the urge to turn it down, or fight. He waited, the warmth of her huge body swirling all around him.

 

--------

 

Maya sighed, her face burning up. Any longer, and she would’ve started to get wet down there already. She didn’t need those sorts of feelings swirling around in her head while she was walking home to the office. Her dream from the night before, coupled with the feelings Nick had been causing with all of his squirming under her back in the courtroom had been what gave her this idea in the first place, but now wasn’t yet the time for them, either.

She hastily retied her sash, adjusting her robes back to normal, and headed for the stairs.

On the first step, she felt Phoenix being accidentally pushed up against her crotch again, and she bit her lip, taking the stairs more slowly. She just needed to keep a cool head until they got home. After that, she had all kinds of fun ideas for her shrunken bestie.