Hey! This chapter has less action, but it is setting up a lot of themes which is also why its longer than usual.

If you like this story, you might like the other story I'm writing as well. It's about the real reason Phoenix and Maya didn't talk for seven years after his disbarment: Maya was in a coma and Phoenix is left without her just like Mia and Diego's situation so long ago. But will this story have a happier ending?

anyway, review and follow please. I want to know what you think of my stories! Thanks!

-6 Years Ago-
Alternate Universe

Mia checked her watch and then began to jog.

(I'd better hurry or I won't even make it to work on time!)

She made it to Grossberg Law Offices with two minutes to spare. Relieved, she grabbed the door handle when a hand reached out to stop her.

"Mia."

She whirled around to face the person grabbing her. It was Phoenix Wright.

"M-Mr. Wright! What are you doing here?"

Phoenix smiled, but in a way that was very different from how Mia had seen him smile before. It seemed more...sinister.

"You look hungry."

"I just had breakf-"

"Come with me."

Phoenix tightened his grip on her arm and dragged her to the park a few yards away. He stopped in front of the noodle stand.

"Two bowls of extra salty noodles please."

Mia was very confused. What exactly was going on here? Why did he want to see her? She had already gotten him a not guilty verdict.

Phoenix guided them to a park bench and sat down.

They ate in silence for awhile, slurping their noodles.

Finally, Mia spoke up, trying to be businesslike. "So, why exactly did you drag me away from my office? Do you need to speak to me? Your trial is over, and to be frank, I don't know you well enough to be comfortable with this situation. And I have no earthly idea as to why you would drag me to the park to eat noodles."

"Didn't you find it a little odd that the trial ended so quickly?"

Phoenix ignored her questions.

Mia looked up from her bowl in surprise.

"I mean, maybe it's just me, but I thought the Judge should have at least let Dahlia speak."

"But she was guilty. The evidence clearly pointed to her," Mia replied defensively.

"No...there was no concrete evidence. There was only a suggestion. It may have been her umbrella covered in blood, but she herself wasn't covered in blood. It wasn't total and absolute proof. Just a suggestion."

"A very incriminating suggestion," Mia snapped.

"Yes, but a suggestion all the same. We have no proof she was guilty."

"Look, all the evidence pointed to Dahlia, okay? She was the only one who could have done it!"

"Then why was I the defendant?"

An eerie silence hung in the air as Phoenix asked the question. He stared pointedly at Mia, a dark blackness filling his eyes that made him seem very different from the immature college student she had defended just days ago.

"Look, Mr. Wright. I don't know why Dahlia wasn't the defendant. As a defense attorney, my two jobs are to always trust my clients completely, and get them the not guilty verdict they deserve. Understand?"

"You can't trust everyone."

"I only trust the right people."

"Then you shouldn't have trusted me."

Mia looked up at Phoenix in confusion.

"I did it, Mia. I murdered Iris Fey."

O O O

Twenty minutes later, Mia walked into Grossberg Law Offices. She left her attorney's badge on the desk and walked out.

She never set foot in a courtroom again.

O O O

CREAK!
Maya paused, listening intently for any signs of movement from her sister's room. Silence. She continued to move, but more cautiously this time.

Maya was sneaking out. She needed to see Phoenix. The other Phoenix. But she knew Mia wouldn't approve of her talking to him. Mia had spent all night trying to think of a way for Maya to get back to her dimension without needing his help. She definitely wouldn't let Maya talk to him on her own, that was for sure. But that was exactly what Maya needed to do.

Maya quickly patted her pocket, making sure that everything she needed to show Phoenix was there. Then she sucked in her breath and made a mad dash for the front door.

She made it outside and collapsed into a bush, panting for air.

(I need to lay off the burgers!)

After catching her breath, she stood back up and started to jog along the sidewalk towards the Detention Center. She had estimated it would be about a ten minute walk, or seven minutes if she jogged as far as she could, and walked the rest. She smiled as she felt the night wind rush through her hair. She knew she had a foolproof plan to get Phoenix's help.

She took a deep breath and faced the doors of the detention center.

(Here goes nothing...)

Maya stepped inside and smiled at the guard.

"I'd like to see Phoenix Wright, please."

The guard nodded curtly and walked through a side door. He came back out a few minutes later and beckoned for Maya to come inside.

She stepped in and looked around until she saw Phoenix's face. She was dying to scream "Nick!" and hug him until her arms fell off. She had to keep telling herself that this wasn't the man she knew.

As Maya sat down on her side of the glass, she was struck by how similar this Evil Phoenix looked to her Phoenix. His prison uniform was a blue jumpsuit, the same blue as his suit. He even had a white undershirt on underneath that happened to have a pinkish-red stain right where a tie would be.

(Guess Nick was destined to wear pink! I'll have to tease him about it when I get home. If I get home...)

Maya shook away the thought and smiled at the murderer in front of her.

"Hello, Phoeni- er, Mr. Wright."

He crossed his arms defensively and snorted. "You again? I'm starting to get sick of you."

Maya ignored him and pressed on, getting straight to the point. "Listen, I'm not the Maya you think I am. I'm from an alternate universe."

Phoenix laughed, a very different laugh from the laugh Maya knew. This laugh was more sinister and grating than Phoenix's laugh back home.

"Prove it."

Maya felt a pang of nostalgia at those words. It turned out that no matter what dimension he was in, Phoenix always relied on proof in the end.

Maya nodded excitedly and pulled a picture out of her pocket.

"See? This is a picture of you and me and Pearl."

"So? We've taken pictures together."

"Maybe so, but look closely at yourself. You're wearing a blue suit."

"I used to wear a blue suit for special occasions in college."

Maya smiled triumphantly. "I'm sure you have. But I'm also a hundred percent sure you've never worn an attorney's badge before."

"What?!"

Phoenix was so surprised that he reached out to grab the picture. Unfortunately his hand was stopped by the three inch thick glass wall dividing the two of them. Maya heard a sickening crunch as his hand connected with the glass.

Maya winced and pressed the picture up to the glass for him to see as he began to curse loudly and cradle his hand.

(Geez, Nick! Watch your language!)

"Anyway, look at this picture. You're in a courtroom with me and Pearl, wearing an attorney's badge. That definitely didn't happen. I mean, you're a murderer! There's no way anyone would be crazy enough to let you be a lawyer!

Phoenix looked intently at Maya, unfazed by her insult.

"So...you're telling the truth? You aren't the Maya I know?"

Maya nodded vigorously.

"It's hard to believe...but the evidence is decisive. I know I've never worn an attorney's badge. But why would you show me this?"

Maya put down the picture she had been holding for Phoenix to see, and looked deep into his eyes.

"I need your help to get home. Unless we work together, then I can never get back to my dimension."

Phoenix looked at Maya in shock, so surprised that he didn't even ask her for details like she had expected him to. "So let me get this straight. You want my help?"

"Yep! But remember, I'm not the Maya you hate. For whatever reason you hate the Feys in your dimension. But I'm not one of them. So can you please help me?"

Phoenix had seemed to open up to Maya for a few minutes, but he suddenly turned cold and menacing once again.

"You would have done the same thing to me that they have done if you had been here. I will never help a Fey. I would rather die."

Maya tried one last time desperately. "Please...Nick."

Maya could have sworn that she saw the tiniest flicker of surprise, but if there was one, then Phoenix regained his composure quickly.

"No. I don't help the Feys. The only thing they have done is hurt me."

Maya's eyes glistened with tears and she turned away to leave.

(I can't bear to see him like this...)

Maya ran all the way back to her apartment. Tears spilled out of her eyes, but she didn't care. She ignored the pain in her side, the intense cramps that were attacking her. Nothing mattered anymore, because she had lost Phoenix. The one thing she could always count on, the only one who could always be there for her, he was gone. She couldn't believe that she had finally lost the only person who kept her afloat. Now all she wanted to do was sink.

Maya ran up to the door of her apartment, when she heard a rustling noise. She looked around herself in panic. A shadowy figure jumped out of a bush and started to attack her. She screamed and fell to the ground. She heard a whoosh and rolled to the left. Seconds later she heard a clanging noise. She looked over and in the moonlight saw a shining metal baseball bat right where her head had been.

"Please! Stop! Niiiiick!" Maya screamed the first thing that came into her head, forgetting that her savior wasn't there for her anymore. She realized that she was doomed.

But as soon as she screamed, the attacker stopped.

"Maya?" The person whispered.

"Sis? Is that you?"

The dark figure nodded.

"Why were you attacking me?!"

"I-I woke up and you were gone! I thought someone might have taken you! And then I heard a noise outside and I thought it was the kidnapper..."

Maya glared at her sister, still shaking with fear. "Didn't it ever cross your mind that I might have snuck out?"

Mia shook her head vigorously. "My Maya lives by herself and is the boss of herself. She would have no reason to leave without telling me. And she always tells me where she's going. She texts me or something even if I'm not spending the night with her. We always tell each other where we're going to make sure we're both ok."

Maya felt a pang of jealousy at their closeness. This other her didn't know how lucky she was to have her sister. Maya would do anything to have Mia back...

Mia smiled. "Well, now that we're both up, how about we watch a movie? I'll make hot chocolate."

Maya grinned. "Me and my sister used to watch movies with hot chocolate late at night too."

"Well, I guess I'll be your sister for now," Mia said, and wrapped her arm around Maya's shoulder.

Maya smiled. Maybe in this world she could survive without Phoenix, as long as she had Mia.