When Worlds Collide

Eureka, Washington of A Town Called Eureka

"Wait, so his CD player might blow up the world?"

Sheriff Jack Carter was leaning against one of the many lab tables in Henry's garage, feeling once again clueless in the face of impending scientific doom. Allison Blake and Nathan Stark leaned over Henry's shoulder to watch the complex simulation he was running to model the effects of the experiment-gone-awry created by one of the town's genius residents. Douglas Fargo, the author of this particular disaster, was standing sheepishly in the corner, wondering how his ultimate music player had turned into a weapon of mass destruction.

"I'd say the whole universe is in danger. The singularity your satellite-controlled media storage device has created is stronger than any other ever recorded, perhaps enough to drag everything we know through a hole in space and time," Stark announced, looking up from the holographic display.

"I'd say more than that," Henry replied, his eyes still glued to the screen.

"More than the universe?" Carter asked.

"Neighboring universes, even all of existence may be threatened. In any case, the timer on that media device of death is almost up, and there's nothing we can do to stop it."

"Really nothing? Or nothing as in 'Only this really crazy idea that will never work, and involves Sheriff Carter risking his life, but we'll try it anyways, and it will end up working after all and everything will turn out fine'?"

"No, Jack, really nothing. On the bright side there's only a fifty percent chance of total destruction."

Fargo leapt on this chance of redemption like a starving man on one of Vincent's gourmet burgers at Café Diem. "And the other fifty percent?"

Stark answered. "Nothing happens. We're all fine."

"So basically we wait five minutes for that timer to run out and then see whether or not everything explodes?" the Sheriff summarized.

"Pretty much."

Los Angeles, California of the Ace Attorney series

Phoenix stood there, watching the witness squirm as he found flaw after flaw in her testimony. You think eventually the judge would realize she wasn't just "forgetting" to add these vital pieces of information to her testimony and charge her for perjury. Then again, this was good 'ol Udgey, and you didn't expect too much from him or his Canadian brother.

"Your Honor," Phoenix announced. "There's no way she could have seen the crime from her supposed viewpoint. There's a wall in the way."

Dumbfounded, he replied in typical judge fashion: "Really?"

"Yes. But the information she supplied earlier in her testimony suggests that she did in fact witness the crime. My guess it was from right here," Phoenix declared, pointing to the spot marked "Killer" on the crime scene map.

The judge responded with intelligent skepticism: "REALLY?"

"Objection!" came a cry from across the courtroom. Miles Edgeworth stood there, finger outstretched, wearing a condescending grin. Now it was time for the real battle to begin.

"You're looking at that old map, Wright? You should know that an updated version was released this morning. Apparently there was construction on the day of the crime, and that wall was down. I'll submit this building plan to the court as evidence."

Edgeworth was one step ahead, as usual. Whether or not this "updated map" was genuine was a different story, but since Edgeworth, as the D.A., had the entire police department behind him, there was no way Phoenix could press the point. The woman was obviously the murderer. She had motive and opportunity… the only thing lacking was the decisive evidence this chain of logic would bring. Phoenix decided he'd have to try to discredit the new map from a different angle.

"Really? The wall was down? It looked perfectly intact when I viewed the crime scene. Could the witness please testify on the construction that took place the day of the crime?"

Bridge of Eldin, Hyrule of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Link sat upon his horse, Epona, as he eyed the boar-riding monster at the other end of the bridge. He called himself "King Bublin" but such a title meant little amongst the warring goblin tribes. Link recognized the monster as the same one who had ravaged his hometown of Ordon and kidnapped the sweet Illia after knocking Link unconscious. Now he had blockaded one of the most important bridges in Hyrule and was preventing Link from reaching the capital of Castle Town. It was time for this guy to pay.

Epona sensed Link's movement and reared up in anticipation of the joust. Link pulled his sword from his sheath and spurred her forward full speed toward the horned monstrosity at the other end. The Bublin saw Link coming, and spurred his own wild boar forward. This was going to end one way or another. Once and for all.

The two charged each other down the length of the bridge. As they neared the center, King Bublin brought his long, nasty-looking pike down and aimed it for his opponent's heart. The Hero continued forward.

At the last moment, right as the Bublin's pike was about to pierce his flesh, Link swerved to the side, taking advantage of his nimbler steed and cutting his sword across the creature in wide, sweeping strokes. The Ordon-crafted steel make a gaping wound through the monster's armor, but the creature remained in his saddle.

One more pass.

Eureka, Washington of A Town Called Eureka

3

2

1

BEEP

Suddenly everything was wrong, like a film negative turned inside out. Black was forwards and white was backwards, thoughts were objects and emotions were time. And then, miraculously, everything righted again.

"Whoa," Sheriff Carter gasped. "What happened?"

"Well, the universe still exists, so that's a good sign," Stark smirked.

Henry was leaning over his holo-display, watching the readings. "It seems there was an inversion of the space-time continuum. The singularity that disk device created righted it before disappearing, though."

"So basically the universe turned inside out and then back again?" Allison asked.

"Basically."

"Has there been any major alterations to our universe?" Stark asked.

Henry checked the screen. "It doesn't look like it. Some minor stuff might be changed in the neighboring universes, but ours is fine."

"Phew!" Carter summarized. "Crisis averted."

Los Angeles, California of the Ace Attorney series

Edgeworth watched Phoenix's face carefully as he cross-examined the witness. There was a trap embedded deep within one of the statements, the only question was if Wright would be clever enough to spring it.

"I knocked over the vase on accident, but I didn't touch anything else at the scene."

Phoenix froze in the middle of his follow-up question, as if he had just realized something. He flipped through the Court Record, and seemed to find some piece of evidence that confirmed his suspicion. He pointed his finger and took a breath for one of his iconic interjections.

Yes. Wright had bought the bait hook, line, and sinker.

And then suddenly everything was wrong, like a film negative turned inside out. Black was forwards and white was backwards, thoughts were objects and emotions were time. And then, miraculously, everything righted again.

"YAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Except that now, where Phoenix Wright had been standing just moments ago, there was a green-clad lunatic wielding a sword.

Link looked around the room. What happened to the bridge? Why was he standing in front of such a stern-looking old man? And why were his thoughts being written in blue across the bottom of the screen?

"Nick what are you doing?" Link turned around in bewilderment to find an angry, dark-haired girl in bizarre clothes at his side. "You're totally freaking out the jury! Put the sword down and get to your objection already!"

"Hut hiyaa?" Link asked confusedly.

The girl groaned. "Did you lose your memory again? At least last time you remembered how to speak! I'll remind you what to do. You were just about to object, which means shouting 'Objection!' really confidently, and then explaining all the reasons you're right and the witness is wrong, okay?"

Link nodded shakily, and shouted as confidently as he could, "Hut hiyaa!"

Maya put her head in her hands, deciding this required professional help. She tried thinking of some dead psychologists or speech therapists she could channel.

"You have a very good point there, Mr. Wright," the judge declared.

Maya looked up.

"Hut hiyaa, hut hut, hiyaa yaaaaa!"

"You know, that really makes a lot of sense," the judge replied. He turned to Edgeworth. "Does the prosecution have a rebuttal?"

Edgeworth sat in stunned silence, watching the most ridiculous event of his entire bizarre career. "Pardon?" he asked.

"I asked, do you have a rebuttal?"

"I don't think I can quite respond…"

"Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to accept Mr. Wright's version of things. Now," he said, turning back to Link, "how do you think she disposed of the body?"

As the judge and the defense carried on their baffling conversation, Maya leaned toward the prosecution and announced in a whisper, "I think this is the first time the judge has understood what was going on when we didn't."

Edgeworth turned to her with eyebrows raised. "I believe this is the first time the judge has understood what was going on period."

Bridge of Eldin, Hyrule of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

The King Bublin watched as the green-suited Hero spun his horse and began galloping back toward the center of the bridge. The great dark king Ganondorf had offered him large sums and great power to delay the boy's quest. More importantly, though, Bublin preferred to be on the winning side of any war, and the Dark King, Zant, and their evil hordes seemed much better odds than this scrawny Hero of Time.

Bublin spurred his wild steed and wrenched forward, watching his opponent carefully for the trick of agility he had pulled last time. They neared the center of the bridge, and King Bublin once again lowered his pike, this time determined that it would not go astray. The boy called Link held tighter to his reigns and prepared to swerve.

And then suddenly everything was wrong, like a film negative turned inside out. Black was forwards and white was backwards, thoughts were objects and emotions were time. And then, miraculously, everything righted again.

Except that now, where Link had sat only a moment ago, there was a man in a blue suit with funny-looking hair.

"Object-AHHHHHHHHH!"

The King Bublin had paused in surprise, but his boar and spear had not. The man in a blue suit with funny-looking hair was now plummeting to his death hundreds of feet below in a rocky gorge.

Phoenix barely felt the pain of the impact before it was over, and he was standing again at the foot of the bridge, the hearts at the top of the screen slightly less in number and beeping nosily. He walked to the edge of the narrow walkway and peered over the edge at the chasm he had just fallen through.

"I think I just defied the laws of physics," he declared.

The King Bublin on the other side of the bridge nearly dropped his spear in surprise. "He… he spoke," the goblin wondered aloud.

Just then, a dark being, most likely a female of some sort, formed itself out of Phoenix's shadow.

"Link!" she declared, "Aren't you supposed to be the Hero of Time with the courage of the goddesses and blah blah blah? What was that girly squeal about?"

"Link?" he questioned, straightening his blue suit and funny-looking hair with shaking hands. "I don't know who you're talking about. I'm Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney, and I am still rather too shaken by my near-death experience to be all that surprised at your appearance."

"Uh, that wasn't near-death. You died."

Phoenix turned several shades paler.

"So you're an 'Ace Attorney,' eh?" the dark being, definitely a female, continued. "As in a lawyer? Great. Now how am I supposed to save my twilight home from impending doom? Sue Zant for copyright infringements on our ancient tribal magic?"

"I think for the moment I'm a lot more concerned with that boar-riding monster at the other end of the bridge there."

"Oh, you can take care of this guy no problem."

"How?"

The being put her hands on her hips and tilted her head, thinking. "I guess Link did take the sword with him." A mischievous smile grew on her face. "You could probably stab him right through with that spiky hair of yours instead."

Phoenix shook his head in frustration and hung his suit coat over his shoulder. "I need a burger. Which way to the nearest town?"

The shadow girl smiled wider and pointed across the bridge. "Guess you have no choice but to fight him," she smirked.

Phoenix was sick of people smirking at him. "Sure I do. I think it's time for some good old lawyer diplomacy," he declared loudly, and began marching toward the boar-riding monster, suit-coat in hand.

Los Angeles, California of the Ace Attorney series

"Can you believe we won? Those were some strange tactics you used, but they worked out great!"

"Hiyaa!"

"Okay Nick," she announced, no longer amused, "you can drop the accent."

"Hut hut?" Link started rummaging through the desk.

"Really Nick. It's not funny anymore."

Link came up from the desk with a paper and pencil and a determined look in his eye. "Hiyaa!"

He began scribbling madly on the little pad of paper, and Maya leaned over his shoulder to see what he was writing.

"What? You're not Nick? Who are you then?"

Scribble, scribble.

"Link, Hero of Time? You sure have an inflated opinion of yourself. Where are you from?"

Scribble, scribble.

"Another universe? What? You expect me to believe…"

Just then a glowing portal appeared, cutting a neat hole in the office wall. A golden-haired boy wearing a royal-looking scarlet cloak and bearing the symbol of a dragon walked through.

"Hmm…" muttered Rand. "Must have Traveled too far."

Then, what was a moment ago a potted plant next to Phoenix's desk suddenly became an Italian plumber with a red hat.

"It's-a me, Mari… what-a happened? Where's-a Peach?"

Maya turned back to the kid in a green hat and tights. "Okay, I believe you."

Bridge of Eldin, Hyrule of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

"All right, mister goblin, sir. I was wondering if you might please let me cross this bridge. I'm in dire need of a burger, and that funny Shadow Girl says the nearest town is through here. I really don't know why we should fight about it when we can work this out like mature adults. What do you think?"

King Bublin continued to stand there, dumbfounded. "He… he spoke," he announced again with wonder.

"Yes I spoke, now can you please move your boar from in front of the exit?" But the goblin just continued to stand there.

Just then, a hole of shadow magic opened in the sky, and a white-robed visitor fell through.

"Palutena!" it screamed as it fell, reaching mournfully toward the hole in the sky. Phoenix was certain for a moment that the figure would have a very short stay in this universe, ending with a splat onto the bridge, but at the last moment it changed its fall into a dive, unfurling magnificent white wings.

The winged boy landed lightly on the bridge and immediately zeroed in on the goblin still standing there. "Are you the one responsible for my being torn from my dear goddess during her hour of need? I am Pit, captain of the guard, and I would not abandon Palutena so lightly. No, my dear monster, the fight is on!" And with that, he pulled the bow from his back and broke it into two swords.

King Bublin shook out of his revere. Fighting. He understood that. None of this mute characters starting to talk nonsense. He may not understand where exactly this winged boy came from, or what they were fighting about, but it made a whole lot more sense then what that man in a blue suit was talking about. He charged the boy with pike outstretched and their battle began.

Phoenix stood to the side, shaking his head. "Fine. Solve all your problems with violence. We'll see how that works out for you in the long run."

With a loud whistle, King Bublin summoned his boar to join the fray. The hulking mass lifted itself out of the exit and dove into the battle. "Actually," Phoenix deliberated as he scooted slowly toward the outlet, "maybe this isn't such a bad idea… you two keep on at it!"

When he finally reached the exit though, another hole opened in the sky, this time depositing an angry, fire-breathing turtle right in Phoenix's path.

"ALL RIGHT," Phoenix declared, throwing down his jacket. "THIS IS WHERE I DRAW THE LINE!"

Eureka, Washington of A Town Called Eureka

Several hours later, Henry was leaning over his holographic display again, and he didn't like what he was seeing.

Sheriff Carter walked in the garage, bored with no scientific doom impending. "So, how are those slight abnormalities in neighboring universes going?" he asked.

Henry frowned and didn't look up from the screen. "They're getting worse. I might have to re-create the singularity and reverse the process altogether."

"So you're going to hit the "Reset" button?"

"Pretty much."

"Can I press it?"

"There's no actual button. There's a complex algorithm that I have to input into the computer."

"Oh. Well can I hit the enter button or whatever when you're finished?"

"… Sure."

Henry typed for a few more minutes and then called, "Done."

"All right!" Carter replied. "Ready, set, PRESS!"

Bridge of Eldin, Hyrule of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Link reappeared on the Bridge of Eldin, and looked up at the familiar, peaceful sky of a world where people could understand what he wanted to say by his facial expressions. He looked over the edge of the bridge to see the King Bublin still tumbling into the gorge below. And someone had even taken care of the goblin!

Home sweet home.

Los Angeles, California of the Ace Attorney series

Maya gasped as the weird assortment of characters in the Wright & Co. Law Office disappeared in an instant. In their place there stood a tired-looking, jacketless Phoenix Wright.

"I have had the weirdest day, Maya," he declared.

"Tell me about it."

AN: This is my first time publishing a fanfiction, and I'm actually super embarrassed about it. That's probably why I did it as a one-shot instead of a couple chapters. Please review if you enjoyed it, or have some feedback! Otherwise I probably won't write another.