The alarm blasted in Apollo's ear and immediately yelled "What a goal by Kopitar!..." He then realized that he wasn't at a hockey game and startled Drake.

"…Sorry buddy. That goal horn alarm just sounds good when you're sleeping. It's like you're there," chuckled Apollo. He rubbed his eyes, stretched and let out a big yawn as he swung his feet to the outside of his bed. It was 8 AM on the dot and he and Nick had to be at the courtroom at 10 so he gave him a call to check if he is awake. He dialed the office number and heard it ring about nine times.

On the other end, a Gumshoe, scruffy looking Phoenix Wright was rolling on his bed and yelling for Trucy to answer the phone since she is the one that is always up this bright and early.

"Hello, Wright and Co. Law office? Trucy speaking."

"Good morning Trucy, how's my little sister this morning?" Apollo said courteously.

"Hey, Polly! I'm good, not sure about daddy. He's still hitting the snooze button on his clock. If he wants to keep being a lawyer from now on he needs to stop that," Trucy laughed. Phoenix had been trying to stop being as lazy as he was before he got his badge back but most times to no avail.

"Tell me something I don't know Truce," Apollo chuckled along, "Put the phone next to his ear. I have an idea to wake him up."

"Ok!" Trucy exclaimed with joy. She quietly snuck into the room where her daddy slept. "Go for it Polly," she said quietly.

Upon a sudden, Apollo belts out with his chords of steel, "WAKE UP MR. WRIGHT!" Nick flailed like a fish out of water and scared him half to death. He took the phone out of Trucys' hand as she was laughing like an idiot and so was Apollo on the other side of the phone.

"Not funny," Nick said with a mix of sleepiness and anger in his voice, "Do that again and you're fired Polly."

"Hey now, who was it that helped you get your name cleared, badge back, and cleaned up the office to attract clients back to Wright and Co.?" questioned Apollo.

"It was a joint effort Apollo and you know it. You and Edgeworth helped out on getting me back in the game while we all cleaned up the office—"

"And you still look terrible yourself." Apollo quipped, getting a quick laugh and a smile across Nicks face finally. There was a silence coming from Nick for about 5 seconds and he retorted "Ok, but I still look better than you in a suit and my hair is more incredible than your antennas."

Laughter ensued from all who were involved as the conversation came to a close and both men respectively got ready for the morning. Apollo let Drake outside in the closed in fence while he took his shower and freshened up. He looked into the mirror laughing "Ha! And he says my hair isn't as good as his." As he kept going he wiped the fog off his mirror and seen someone standing behind him. Shocked, he turned around with his pistol to find no one there. "Huh? I could have sworn I seen a woman standing behind me… man, I got to shake it off. Must still be early in the morning for me," thought Apollo. But she seemed so real when he looked in the mirror, he turned around again and seen no one in the mirror this time. He let Drake back into the apartment when he greeted Apollo with another happy-go-lucky smile.

Apollo walked out the door and locked it behind him. With his bag in tote, he walked to the lot where is Charger was parked and drove to the office. It was a relatively short drive to the office from his apartment, most in part of Apollo blasting rock and roll music in his car and singing aloud with it. While stopped at a red light, something caught Apollo's attention. A woman just walking down the street and gave a passing glance in his direction.

"Wow," thought Apollo, "She is beautiful!" She gave him a quick smile and wave as if she knew him for the longest time. "Then again, my luck with women hasn't been all that great. Hell, I can't even remember when my last girlfriend was. Plus, my last attempt ended with me embarrassing myself in front of Ema… Oh god, that was terrible." The woman kept walking as she disappeared into a department store, leaving a good impression on Apollo's mind.

"Man, what I would do to have a shot with her. I would do-," Apollo's phone rang out and had Nick showing up on screen.

"Apollo Justice speaking."

"Hey Apollo, I'm finally all set and ready to go," Nick said calmly, Apollo let out a sigh of relief.

"Good. I'm close Mr. Wright. Let's go over a few things first. The autopsy report shows that the victim in this case, Marcellus Vincent, was shot twice in the knees and then finally shot once through the bottom of his chin and out the top of his head. Time of death was recorded at 3:48 AM but they don't know what killed him."

"Lovely… Wait, what? They don't know what killed him? Did they seriously state that in the autopsy?" puzzled Nick, rubbing the backside of his head.

"They don't know whether he bled out from the shots to the knees or if the shot to the head killed him. The coroner's office is looking into it further," Apollo said calmly. "Still sounds like a royal mess any way you look at it."

"Hmm, interesting. Usually, they would have figured it out by now."

"What's better is that I dove back into Mr. Vincent's rap sheet and found a great deal of information of how he was closely affiliated with the LA crime family the Bartullos. Sounds like he got on their bad side," Apollo kept looking through the file and didn't notice the upcoming red light and slammed on the brakes.

"Apollo, what was that?" questioned Nick

"Ugh…" Apollo was breathing heavily, "Oh… nothing. Nothing at all," lied Apollo.

"Now now Apollo, I've been a lawyer for too long and I know you are lying out your ass on that one. Just keep your eyes on the road and come and get me," Nick ordered.

Apollo hung up the phone and felt a bead of sweat roll off his brow. "Oh great, I'm not even in the courtroom yet and already getting nervous." He arrived at the office and seen a clean cut, clean shaved Phoenix Wright on the front steps with a briefcase in hand. Apollo gave out a chuckle as he rarely ever seen Nick in his suit and tie.

"What are you laughing at?" smiled Nick, "You never saw a real man in a suit before?" Both were laughing in the car waiting on Trucy to come out the door. As she did, Apollo laughed again, "What? No grand entrance for the Great Trucy Gramarye?"

"You be quiet mister. Let's get to the courtroom, the judge wanted to see my new trick that I learned this summer before the trial," beamed Trucy.

"Alright guys buckle up and hang on," said Apollo as he revved up the engine, gave a smirk, and sped off toward to the courthouse. He pressed a button on his steering wheel, "Please state your command"

"Play Copperhead Road."

The song blared as Apollo raced to the courthouse. Trucy with her hands over her ears and her daddy nodding his head to the beat, they made the trip short. Apollo pulled into the spot where he was told to go to and Trucy was beside herself.

"How can you listen to that crap, Apollo? Don't you know that country music is crap?"

"Wrong. Its rap is crap, Trucy. It's the stuff that you listen to that's rotting your mind," Apollo quipped with a smile. "You better hurry and find the judge, its 30 minutes till 10." And with that Trucy sped off inside while Phoenix and Apollo strolled in to meet their client.

"One more question Apollo. Who are we going up against today?" Apollo stopped in his tracks at this question.

"Remember an old friend named Diego Armondo?" Phoenix was stunned by Apollo's rebuttal.

"You're kidding me. He wasn't supposed to be out for another 3 years! He told me so himself the last time I visited him in the Orange County prison…" said Nick as he started pacing on the steps of the courthouse.

"Well, I'm sure you will find out when we get inside. Come on, let's go." Apollo felt a cold chill run down the back of his neck as both of them stepped inside. Awaiting for the trial at hand.