No matter how desperate the situation... instead of giving up like most people, that man would hold strong with his undying faith.

I raced back over to my home. Apollo clearly rummaged through my stuff like a wild animal, but at least he locked the door before leaving. As I waded through the unfortunate mess my ex-apprentice had left my house in, I was thinking just how the hell my messed-up plan was supposed to work. There were so many things that could screw up with it in an instant that it isn't even remotely funny.

I finally made it to my room. I knew what I had to do from there. I changed out of the clothes I was in right now. The condition of my sweater was downright atrocious and I just threw them on the floor with the rest of the garbage. I quickly took a shower and quickly shaved off the stubble on my chin. I had to look as innocent as I could to prepare for what was to come next. I don't want to roam the street looking like a grubby hobo... but then again, there was a bit of blood on that sweater. Even worse than appearing as a grubby hobo would be appearing as a crazy sleep-deprived serial killer.

Sometimes, my old job drives me nuts.

I jumped out of the shower and grabbed the first hanger I could find on in my closet and whatever was on there, I threw on.

"Man Mia, I bet you're watching me now and I bet you're laughing at me right now along with Diego." I thought to myself grimly. I threw my persona in front of a mirror and took a good look at myself.

I was surprised.
Even after all this time, I never knew I could look so good after a nice shower and quick shave.

I looked eight years younger.

Speaking of which, I grabbed my attorney's badge from my other pants. I pinned it onto the lapel of my blue suit. I fixed my salmon tie and looked myself in the eye through the mirror again.

I DID look eight years younger.

I fixed my spikes to perfection once more. After one final touch, I smiled to myself in complete satisfaction.

I was back in my old attorney clothes. I was glad that they hadn't shrunk or I hadn't gained too much weight because they fit me perfectly.

I took one more final look in the mirror.
Perfect.

I grabbed an empty suitcase that was longing for me to use it. I felt happy to feel its grip once more. I stepped into a pair of loafers, got onto my bike once more, and pedalled off.

It was time to dip my hands in some illegality.

Chapter Eleven: Returning the Favour

I was staring into the eyes of a ghost. I thought this guy was dead. I thought I had somehow been thrust back into my past, but after thinking about it for a bit, I knew this was all real.

Phoenix Wright was standing on the other side of the window.
The only thing is, he looked just like how he did eight years ago.

He took a seat on the other side of this glass wall and brought his suitcase up to take a few papers he had just received from the secretary of the Detention Center. It was just a few files on my case. He placed them on the table in front of him.

And then he smiled at me.
And I started to remember.

Whatever darkness was lurking in my heart was suddenly dispelled.
This was the same smile he had used eight years ago when I was only fifteen.

I looked into his eyes and I remembered the gratitude I felt from the sight of his kind eyes and calming aura. The only thing is, the eight years have changed him. Even I could tell that part of this was tainted. Now even Phoenix Wright had a lurking darkness he was trying to smother for my own sake. I ignored that dark presence and just allowed myself to wallow in the relief Mr. Wright provided.

Phoenix tapped on the microphone.
The tapping was pretty clear in the silent room.

"Mr. Justice." Phoenix said through the microphone. I smiled back and nodded in return. "So... how are you feeling?" he greeted.

"I'm fine sir." I replied. I was more than fine though. I was overwhelmed with happiness!

"That's good." Phoenix replied. "But you should already know that I don't like being called 'sir'."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that sir- I mean, Mr. Wright." I stumbled on my words and felt as though I had just tripped and fell. It felt pretty odd, but I started blushing like I did when I was fifteen and Mr. Wright chuckled. "Thanks for providing the nostalgic feeling though, Mr. Wright."

"So you saw through my act, didn't you Apollo?" Mr. Wright gave me a wide grin.

We both smiled at each other.

"Oh yeah, Mr. Wright!" I took out his bar exam results from my pocket. "Check this out!" I held the papers against the window and Phoenix gasped in surprise.

He examined them a bit. "Thank you Mia, for reminding me that I have to pursue the truth." I heard him whisper to himself as he looked up to the ceiling. He must have been talking to the dead or something.

"See? You're a legal attorney, so there's nothing to worry about!" I replied. "No pressure will be on you as you make your re-entrance to the defense bench."

Phoenix smiled at the remark, but after seeing it, I could tell that there was still something bothering him, though the news was beneficial and seemed to take a heavy weight off his shoulders.

"Alright, that's fine." Phoenix remarked. "So... what exactly happened while I was away?"

And so I told him my side of the story all the way until I was knocked out by the killer.
And after that, Phoenix was deep in thought once more, but then he nodded at me.

"I believe you completely." he told me. "I can't think of any contradictions in that story."

Now there was finally something different.
I told him the complete truth without hiding something like before.

But that lead me to a concern.
And Mr. Wright caught it.

"Apollo..." Mr. Wright started. "I need to ask you an important question. Something that will help me decide whether I should defend you or not."

"Alright, what is it?" I asked. I was concerned that Mr. Wright still had yet to decide whether he wanted to defend me or not. I thought that once you're called upon the state to defend someone, you were stuck defending that person. Then again, Mr. Wright didn't even know he was a legal attorney at the time yet and probably used that introduction to get himself in.

And so he dropped the bomb.

"Do you trust me completely? Do you trust me to protect your life? Do you have enough trust in me that I will get you acquitted? Do you trust me as much as I trust you and that I know you are not the killer in this case?"

These question came on rather sudden, but they were perfect. They seemed to solidify all of the doubts that had been running in my head.

All this time, I thought that I would be able to perfectly trust Mr. Wright with this case. I know that, like last time, he would get me acquitted. I wanted to feel that feeling again and so my mind made the assumption that I would be able to trust the man before me.

However, I have gotten to know him better. After all that has happened recently: his mysterious disappearances, his suspicious behaviour, and even the fact that he had forged evidence for my first trial and I ended up using it.

Would I be able to trust the changed man in front of me right now?
Would I be able to trust that he will be able to save me tomorrow?

Would I be able to trust Phoenix Wright?

I mean, he didn't trust me, his apprentice, and Trucy, his own daughter, enough to tell us the truth of what was going on. Why should I trust him?

There was an odd silence.
Phoenix looked shifty.

For once, he didn't know what was running through my head.

After a while, I still didn't know what to do. I was suddenly facing indecision.

And just when I was going to tell him that I don't know, he spoke.

"Apollo, I'm sorry." he said. "I'm sorry for not putting my own trust in you. I know I should have told you what was going on from the start, but I didn't trust you enough to tell you. If I have told you, many of the disasters that have happened recently probably wouldn't have happened at all and the man I was trying to nab would probably be under police custody right now."

Where was he going with this?

"If I couldn't put my complete trust in you, then I can see why you can't put your complete trust in me." he continued. "In that case, I guess I should be leaving now."

Oh.
That's where he was going with this.

This time around, I was fighting back tears.
He seemed to sincere. This couldn't be an act.

He was actually going to leave me alone.
He was actually deciding not defend me.

"No wait, Mr. Wright!" I called back out to him. He turned back to me slowly. "It's true that this was the reason I was hesitant in responding..." I started. "...but it doesn't mean that I don't want you as my attorney. My trust may not be 100% with you, but my belief in your success is. I know that you will be able to defend me to the best of your abilities and I know you can prove me innocent. I believe in you, Mr. Wright."

"...I believe in you, Mr. Wright."

Those words made me smile.

Even though I knew that it was mainly my fault that he was in here in the first place, those words gave me back a little bit of the feeling I used to have back in the old days.

I took my place back in the chair in front of Apollo and smiled at him. "Thank you, Apollo." I told him. "Thank you for everything."

Now that I think about it, I doubt he would have said that if he had known the true killer of this case at the time. For all he knew, I could backstab him to avoid suspicion to fall onto me.

But would I really do that?

"Alright Apollo, time for some good news." I suddenly found myself saying. "I know who the killer is and I promise you that I will bring that man to justice."

"Okay. Thank you, Mr. Wright." Apollo clearly was enjoying the news, seeing as he was smiling like an abnormally happy clown. (All of the clowns I have seen in my lifetime were depressed and such. Then again, the last time I saw a clown was on a murder case...) He had nothing to worry about all of the sudden.

I then glance down at my watch. It was 8:54 PM; almost closing time. "Apollo, I have to go now." I told him. "Remember to put in a letter of request form to let me defend you and we should be all set for tomorrow, alright?"

"Yes sir, Mr. Wright sir!" Apollo mock saluted me and I chuckled and saluted him back. His smile seemed to radiate happiness all over the Detention Center. The guy was just too happy to see me.

Too bad that I wasn't as happy as he was.
And that I was more or less repelling that happiness away. I just don't deserve to see his happiness, let alone be happy myself. I guess I could find joy in doing the right thing, but under the circumstances, it was hard.

Maybe I should give myself the death sentence tomorrow.
I'll just plead guilty of the crimes and confess and such. Then I'll get what I deserve.

Maybe I'm getting a bit too paranoid with all this.
Stupid guilt has been eating away at me since yesterday.

I walked back over to the Wright Anything Agency and threw the papers I had received out of my suitcase and onto my desk. I carefully pushed off any props Trucy decided to leave on the surface in order to give myself more space. I grabbed one of my pens and started my pre-trial work.

"Alright, paperwork." I sighed. "It's been a while. Now I better finish you off before I get nightmares about you..."

Ahh... it's almost ten in the morning. My trial is going to start in fifteen minutes. Two police officers escorted me into the defendant's lobby. I noticed that Phoenix still hadn't arrived. I hoped he wouldn't be late or something or I would be so screwed today.

I remember staying up all night thinking about what has happened these past few days. There were so many mysteries lingering that even after I got so far, I'm still confused. I guess I was hoping that many of the loose ends would be resolved today by Mr. Wright. If this trial just brings up more mysteries, I think I'm going to explode.

"Hey, Apollo!"

I looked to the door and found a waving Phoenix smiling cheerfully today.

"Hey Mr. Wright." I replied.

"You ready for today's trial?"

"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be? I mean, I get to witness the return of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney! How about you?"

Phoenix chuckled at the statement. "I guess I am pretty excited to get back in the legal action too."

"Yup!" I replied. "Because law has never been more fun!"

We both laughed at that sarcastic phrase.

"Hey, Mr. Wright?"

"Yeah?"

"You said that you know who the murderer is... well, how did you figure it out so quickly? It's not like you were there at the moment of the crime or something...? And who is it?"

Phoenix stayed silent for a while. "Apollo... there's something known as pre-trial investigation. I've been doing it for a while now and I learned that, if done correctly, it should give you an edge on the upcoming trial. I guess my investigating has given me a pretty large edge, so don't worry about it. You should be fine."

I nodded and took his word for it.
But as soon as that happened, I realized that he just managed to duck away from my questions!

I moved in to protest, but it was too late. Our conversation was over.

"Will the defendant and his defense attorney please make their way into the courtroom?" the bailiff called out into the room before walking off once more.

"Alright, it's show time!" Phoenix whooped. "Let's go, Apollo!"

I smiled. This was going to be a good day. Both Mr. Wright and I were pumped to see the result of this trial. I get to witness the return of the legend and he gets to defend once more.

So let's get this show on the road!

The judge banged the gavel, signalling the trial to begin. I stared at the sight around me. To be honest, I'm already familiar with the defendant's chair, but I still find it kind of weird to be here. I mean, the peanut gallery is staring at me, wondering whether I'm innocent or guilty. Because (A/N: in the Ace Attorney world) the defendant's chair was in the center of the courtroom, I had a good point of view on everything, but every once in a while, one of the people in the peanut gallery would chuck paper at my head (or maybe at my 'antennae') for some reason.

I noticed that the peanut gallery was a lot more crowded than when I would have my trials today. Maybe they were wondering whether I, Apollo Justice, was innocent or guilty. Man, I never knew I had so many fans!

Well, then again, most of them were probably here to see Mr. Wright in action. Maybe these were all his fans and no one gave a damn about me. (A/N: I care for you Apollo... it's just that a lot more people would rather see Phoenix Wright at the defense instead of you...)

"The trial of Mr. Apollo Justice will now commence." The judge was the same one as the one who would oversee my own trials.

"The defense is ready." Phoenix stated firmly.

The gaze then moved over to the prosecutor's bench, but oddly enough...

"Is the prosecution, err, ready?" The judge asked unsteadily.

"Of course the prosecution is ready." the man stated as he got up from behind the bench. "I'm terribly sorry about that, but my pen just happened to drop."

To be honest, I didn't recognise the prosecutor of my case today, but, like all of the prosecutors I've seen in my life and in the stories of Phoenix's old cases, he had a unique feature that made him memorable like the rest of them. I mean, he fit in with the prosecutor that had a whip, the one who was a coffee addict and remind me of Cyclops, and the rock star prosecutor. The one thing that stood out in my mind about this guy was the feminine-coloured suit and ruffled piece of cloth hanging around his neck. He pulled off a rather sophisticated air as he stood across from my mentor.

Speaking of my "mentor", Phoenix was snickering.

"Hey Edgeworth!" he called out to the prosecutor on the other side. "Since when did you have glasses?"

And already 'Edgeworth' was uncomfortable. He glared at Phoenix with his palm flat on the desk. "And I thought you had been disbarred, Wright." he replied, trying to keep his voice calm and unwavering.

"Some things change." was Phoenix's simple reply.

The judge banged the gavel. "Will the defense and the prosecution please refrain from bantering so we may proceed with this trial?" he stated with a hint of annoyance.

"Yes, Your Honor." the two said in unison.

I sighed. I remembered something I had read in one of Phoenix's files. The two were rivals, but outside of court, they were childhood friends.

This was going to be a long trial.

A/N: Sorry for the long update, but terrible chapter. Kinda typing this on the road... on the bright side, at least I've been enjoying the real life. So yes, I am apologizing to people reading this because I was enjoying life. And so this time around, I have decided to cut it short... only because I suck at writing trial chapters. I need to pool a few ideas before I can continue.

So there! Edgeworth is the prosecutor AND has glasses! Phoenix is defending Apollo too! Will he backstab Apollo to save himself or would he reveal his ungodly deeds to the court somehow? (You know, the answer is pretty obvious, so I'm making this a rhetorical question.)

One last question to end today... do you think Apollo made the right to choice allowing Phoenix to be his defense attorney? =P