"Phoenix," began Franziska. "Are you absolutely sure about this?"

Phoenix nodded. He would be shipped out to court in just a couple of hours. "Yeah. There's no other way. I will have to defend myself. I've read up more on Redd White, and I'd bet anything he already has his claws in the attorneys' association."

"So he claims."

Franziska was sitting across from Phoenix in the Detention Center again, with only the pane of glass dividing them. Phoenix stirred in his seat. "You don't trust my chances?"

Franziska sighed. "I am not going to lie to you. This will be difficult. The city has put Miles Edgeworth on the case."

Phoenix blinked, but nodded in resignation. "I knew I would meet him one day. I went into this job expecting it."

Franziska's lip twisted. "Do you believe in the rumors against him?"

Phoenix recalled the whispers he knew surrounded Edgeworth, about faulty evidence and prepared testimonies. The ones harrowing enough to give the young law star the nickname "Demon Prosecutor."

"All I know is that he will do anything to get his guilty verdict. And that means I have to do anything to prove my innocence." He paused. "Was there something else you wanted to talk about?"

Franziska reached into the bag at her feet and held up a thermos. She tried to smile.

"I made some tea. I thought you might need some. I'll get it through the slot."

Phoenix grinned.

"You're the best."

"You sure about this, Mr. Wright?" Maya frowned. "This whole situation stinks."

The three of them were in the middle of the courthouse lobby, prepared and yet unprepared for what they would go through that day.

Maya looked up at Phoenix. "They don't have evidence against you, right?"

Franziska sighed. "They may or they may not. But they do need a plausible scenario in which Phoenix is guilty. As long as they have that, this case will be very hard to swing…."

She was cut off by the door to the courtroom opening. A bailiff came out first, dressed in a starchy uniform and hat. But it was the man who came after him who caught the trio's attention.

Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth stopped in his tracks. He was tall, dressed in a red suit jacket and pants with a black shirt underneath. An elegant, three-section white cravat hung from his neck, and his gray hair was neatly styled and parted to emphasize his face, which was long and stern. Despite his best effort to keep himself in tip-top shape, the bags under his eyes were unmistakable. He looked at the three figures before him, walked up until he was a foot away, and folded his arms.

"It's been a while…Mr. Wright."

Phoenix swallowed and looked Edgeworth straight in the eye. "Seems that way, Edgeworth."

He watched Edgeworth's gaze flicker to Franziska and then back to him. It was obvious to the defense attorney that what the prosecutor expressed in that single fleeting movement was confusion. How is that another prosecutor is with the defendant? Phoenix could practically hear his thoughts. And why is it this one, of all people?

Edgeworth's gaze resettled on his fellow attorney. "Franziska?"

"Miles?"

He folded his arms. "I do believe this case is my own. Watch in the gallery if you like, but the court will only go by my design."

"I-it's no problem, sir," Maya said awkwardly. "They live together."

The silence that followed was such that they might have heard a pin drop. Edgeworth closed his eyes, reopened them, and coughed. Then he stared at Franziska.

"You live with him?" He shook his head. "It's enough that prosecutors have to put up with defense attorneys in court, but you share a roof with one? How did that come to be? What a breach in tradition. What a breach in prosecutorial conduct-"

Phoenix stepped in front of Edgeworth and scowled. "Save your scorn for defense attorneys for later." He nodded backwards towards Franziska and Maya. "They're here to see me prove my innocence."

Edgeworth was silent for a moment. "I would not bet against myself, Mr. Wright. We have the witnesses we need. Whatever they say will be the 'absolute' truth."

"So that's it? I'm going to be found guilty?"

Maya scowled. "How can you torment an innocent person like this?"

Edgeworth scowled back. "'Innocent?' Don't make laugh. Everyone says the same thing on the witness stand. It is my duty to prove each defendant guilty. That is all I can do!"

"But you really seem to do your best every time." Phoenix shook his head. "You really have changed, Edgeworth."

Franziska bit her lip, recalling what Phoenix said had happened between himself and Edgeworth all the way back in grade school. Maya, meanwhile, put a finger to her chin.

"I don't follow…"

"Don't expect any special treatment, Wright." Edgeworth spoke up again. "Just know that by the end of the day, the Judge will deliver a guilty verdict."

Then he turned on his heels and left.

The Judge silenced the gallery with one, then two more strikes of his gavel.

"Court will convene for the trial of Mr. Phoenix Wright."

Edgeworth stood at the prosecutor's stand, arms crossed. "The prosecution is ready, Your Honor."

Across from him, Phoenix slammed his hands on his own stand. "The defense is ready, Your Honor!"

The Judge, a bald old man, ran his left hand through his long white beard. "I understand that you wish to speak in your own defense. Are you absolutely sure about this, Mr. Wright?"

At this, Phoenix shrugged. He stole a glance at Maya and Franziska, who were staring at him intently from the gallery. He swallowed hard. "Yes, Your Honor."

"Very well."

"The prosecution's case is a simple one," Edgeworth began. "Mr. Phoenix Wright attacked his mentor, Ms. Mia Fey, and sent her into a coma. We have witnesses prepared to testify against the defendant. With your permission, Your Honor, I would like to summon the officer on the scene to the stand."

The Judge nodded. "Very well."

He slammed the gavel down once more.

"This court summons Officer Serter!"

-A multi-chapter story; Chapter 7; story idea by CRed1988 and writing by Jerviss.