DISCLAIMER: Phoenix Wright belongs to Capcom. Obviously.

A/N: This fic is brought to you (as always) by the burning question "What if...?" What if Matt didn't hire a hit on Juan Corrida and what if Juan found out what Adrian was after?

Matt's 2 personalities will be differentiated as Evil Matt and Idiot Matt.

-Evil Matt Saves The Day-

Matt Engarde was taking a nap in his hotel room after the Superhero Grand Prix. He was awakened by an enraged shout from the room next door.

That sounded like Corrida's voice...

If he listened a little harder, he could make out the words Corrida was yelling.

"Stupid bitch! You stupid fucking bitch!" There followed a crash, which most likely was the sound of someone being thrown against a wall.

No... no way... Matt immediately assumed the worst. While Idiot Matt could have just gone back to sleep and pretended he never knew it happened, one thing he could NOT do was prevent his Evil Matt personality from manifesting.

Evil Matt jumped up from the bed and hurried out into the hallway. He didn't waste time seeing if the Corrida's door was locked or not. He kicked it down.

Corrida had Adrian up against the wall. He was strangling her. She wasn't struggling; she appeared to be in a state of shock. He was going to kill her. And Evil Matt was not okay with that.

"Get away from her," Matt growled as he pried Corrida's fingers from Adrian's throat. Corrida took a swing at him, but Matt dodged just in time and in the same motion scored a direct hit to his adversary's face. Corrida charged him again, but this time Matt was ready and took him down with a combination left hook and good old-fashioned sucker-punch.

Once Corrida was down for the count, Matt went over to where Adrian was sitting slumped against the wall with her hands pressed against her neck. He knelt next to her.

"Adrian." She didn't respond. "Adrian." He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her. "Adrian, Adrian," he kept repeating her name until she responded.

"M-matt." Her voice was shaking as she said his name. She looked up at him. His hair was swept back from his face and she could see the claw-mark scar over his right eye. He saw her eyes go wide with fear.

"No, don't, it's okay," he said, hugging her close. His expression was fierce but he was holding her gently and she slowly realized that he was trying to comfort her after her ordeal.

"Maaaaaattttttt," she wailed, and clung to him, crying.

"Shh, it's okay, baby. I've got you. You're safe now. I won't let him hurt you."

He picked her up and carried her back to his room, where he locked the door and set about trying to bring Idiot Matt back from the recesses of his mind before the cops showed up.

(to be concluded in part two)