Chapter 2:

History Repeats Itself

"Nick, you're not still working, are you?" Maya asked as she came over towards Phoenix's desk. She noticed the art supplies on the desk and the drawing that he had been working on and smiled. When Phoenix had told her that he majored in art first before switching to law she didn't believe him, it was only after she had seen him draw something that she finally believed him. The first picture she watched Phoenix create was based on a scene from some Steel Samurai fanfiction that Maya had gushed over on a quiet day.

"Nah, just doing something to destress after the trial," Phoenix smiled and turned the paper around so she could have a better look. A warm smile formed on her face as she noticed the two incomplete figures which she recognised instantly, it was herself and Steel Samurai together, standing back-to-back while being ready to take on some evil force that was off the page.

"Will you let me keep it when you're finished?" Maya asked him.

"When it's finished, I was going to give it to you anyway."

"Really?!" Maya's eyes lit up as she slammed her hands on his desk. Phoenix watched as his art supplies jumped in the air for a few seconds before the pens and pencils rolled on the desk. Phoenix chuckled at her enthusiasm before he gathered up the pens and pencils on the desk. He looked up at his assistant, someone who had wriggled her way into his life and drained his wallet of money, someone who he'd happily call his sister in all but blood. Mia had often voiced that he was an honouree Fey at this point while she was alive and even when channelled.

"Hey, you like Steel Samurai more than me, I wouldn't draw it if it wasn't for an enthusiastic sister constantly watching it." Maya squealed, bouncing on the spot before she pulled up a chair to sit and watch Phoenix work. Feeling that the conversation was over he returned to his drawing.

They had won another trial and managed to get their client a not guilty verdict, but it hadn't been easy. Miles Edgeworth had stepped up his game, pushing Phoenix more and more as he bluffed his way through. If he was being honest, if Edgeworth wasn't constantly pushing him to become a better lawyer then Phoenix wasn't sure that Edgeworth would be the best prosecutor that he could be either. It was the rivalry that worked to benefit them both, something he hadn't felt in a courtroom since Mia met her rival. Diego had even let Phoenix take his place as co-counsel in some of Mia's trials to give him experience being in an actual trial. There were other times when he co-counselled with Diego too. Seeing how both worked helped further nudge him to studying law…along with Miles Edgeworth himself. He felt his mood drop just thinking about the pair who became so important in his life…before everything started going wrong. Dahlia took Diego first, poisoning him before framing Phoenix himself for a murder he didn't commit. He and Mia worked together to clear his name but in the end…Phoenix couldn't protect either of them. He still felt guilt even to this day over Mia's death…he had a feeling that she was working on something and wanted to keep him in the dark, but that led to her death and Maya had the blame pinned on her.

"Nick?" Maya spoke up and successfully yanked Phoenix out from his mind. The defence attorney looked up from the picture and up at Maya. He saw the concerned expression on her face which only further reminded him of Mia whenever she looked at him with a concerned face. He gave her a small smile but that didn't help the situation. "You looked lost in thought…is there something on your mind?" She asked him, reaching to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. Phoenix reached up and placed his over hers.

"You know me, I get lost in my thoughts at times and need to be pulled out, thank you."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Phoenix knew that she was staring him right in the eyes, trying to find out what he was thinking about without him telling her. The eyes were the window to the soul and he was sure that her abilities helped her out whenever she looked at people directly. Her gaze softened as if confirming his theory. "You were thinking about Mia, weren't you?"

"Well, she did unofficially adopt me. Maybe we should just call it a day and go out to eat?" Placing the pencil down he stood up from his desk while feeling Maya's eyes on him. Would she turn down the opportunity to go out for burgers because of his mood? Who was he kidding, she would never turn down an opportunity to go out for burgers! "I'll be paying."

"Of course you'll be paying! You're the one who gets paid!" Maya looked distracted at the idea of getting burgers which meant that Phoenix had played the right (or wright) card this time. He wouldn't be sure which card to play if the burger card started to fail him.

"I pay you too you know? How else do you get to buy all the Steel Samurai merchandise?" Phoenix responded to her before the pair of them laughed. Phoenix grabbed his blazer and coat before following Maya out the office, locking it up and walking towards her favourite burger bar. "After this though, you'll go home and rest while I'll go and finish that drawing."

"You better make it good when you colour it in!" She jabbed a finger into his chest and puffed up her cheeks.

"Don't worry Maya, it'll be amazing."

Ace Attorney – Chapter 2: History Repeats Itself

Phoenix had time to himself, unlocking the office door he stripped the coat off and hung it up before stripping his blazer and throwing it on the nearby couch. Maya had checked her phone and looked at the Steel Samurai forums on a fan website and it sounded like she got into a heated argument with someone. Phoenix had to listen to her vent while this other user was 'silly and immature' about their argument. Now that he was alone in his office though, he could finally have some peace and quiet. Don't get him wrong, he loved Maya but when it came to technology and Steel Samurai…he couldn't help but want to switch off. With a sigh, he dropped down on his office chair and stretched out, staring up at the ceiling before collecting himself once more and focused on his art. He smiled to himself as he picked up the pencil and started to do more for the rough sketches for the background.

He was pulled from his art when he heard the door open. Maya shouldn't be here. He glanced up to see an unfamiliar face. A new client? No, this person clearly had a different motive in mind.

"Hello, I'm sorry but office hours closed about three hours ago. I'm going to ask you to leave and come back at nine am tomorrow morning." Phoenix stood up from his chair, his fight or flight response had flared to life and this person felt dangerous.

"Oh, I'm not here to make an appointment. Call this…personal business," the newcomer said, his voice was rough like sandpaper, deep like the ocean but apart from that, Phoenix couldn't distinguish anything else. The newcomer had their face covered, a long black trench coat which covered their body. Phoenix's eyes were drawn to whatever was being removed from the coat. A shiny blade…so this person was here to murder him. That would explain the response his body had received. He just needed to get past and escape.

'You're here to kill me,' Phoenix thought to himself but remained calm.

"I can see from your eyes that you're determined to make this harder for me. Well, too bad. I thought ahead."

Phoenix didn't have time to react as the newcomer pulled out a stun gun and fired. Electricity flooded his body, causing his muscles to lock and for his body to buckle under his own weight. He couldn't even scream or call for help as his body tensed. He couldn't feel anything. He didn't feel anything when he landed (probably roughly) on the floor, nor could he feel his body being pulled up off the ground and roughly thrown into the wall. He could however, watch everything. He watched as a gloved hand cupped his chin and forced him to look up at his attacker, and he was powerless. He couldn't do anything.

"Now you can't make it harder~" The newcomer smirked, showing their yellowed teeth and exhaling a foul scent that would make Phoenix's nose want to wrinkle. "I made sure the voltage was strong enough to put you out of commission if only one of the taser darts got into you. This is what you get for putting my father behind bars."

Was this office cursed? Phoenix wondered as it had seen the death of Mia Fey…and it would soon witness his death too. He couldn't look away as the newcomer brandished the knife and dropped the taser gun. He watched as the blade was raised high in the air and he was sure that its target would be his heart. He felt powerless…Mia had the ability to run away from Redd White…he couldn't. His murderer had made sure that they would get their revenge.

As the blade was thrusted downwards, Phoenix felt glimpses of his life flash in his mind. His first encounter with the man Diego Armando, a defence attorney who was famous in the field…Phoenix himself was hiding in the corner of the office, terrified of the man who had a strong coffee scent but eventually turned into a great guardian, just like Mia. It was a strange little family to say the least…neither were officially his guardians, but they were a family to him. Flash forward to him meeting Miles Edgeworth for the first time, when Mia and Diego had to send Phoenix to school to learn the social lessons all children needed to learn. The classroom trial, Larry, Miles and himself building a strong friendship…then things turned south. Miles left and Phoenix had to be taken out due to his health.

Seeing Mia and Diego working on cases, jokingly asking him for his view on the case and thus started his interest in the world or law yet instead he found a thrill in the arts. He sharped his creativity and skills there and even dabbled in performing arts too all while on the side, he studied law. It ran in the 'family' after all, Mia nor Diego pushed him to do law but after what happened in the classroom trial, Miles' sudden disappearance from school before turning up at the 'demon prosecutor' only solidified his desire for law.

All those memories flashed before his eyes before everything stopped. The blade had hit his body. A ripple of pain must have flooded his body but yet he couldn't do anything. His body still paralysed from the taser. His muscles were locked but his blood certainly wasn't as he felt that claw its way up his throat and flow into his mouth. The warm, metallic tasting substance filled his mouth and escaped through the opening of his mouth. His blood cooled quickly when it braced the chilled air. It was now that his body had fought off the paralysing effect and caused him to cough out the blood, slumping forward to quickly try to clear his windpipe. His body needed oxygen, it demanded oxygen. He felt a hand on his shoulder as the blade was yanked out from his body and forced his body to remain sitting up.

"Goodbye, mister Wright. It hasn't been a pleasure knowing you." The blade had been pocketed in the newcomer's trench coat before they turned around and headed out the office. Phoenix could only watch helplessly as his body refused to move. His breathing became heavier as it tried to claim as much oxygen from the air as possible, trying to repair itself.

He was going to die…he knew that. His shirt was staining with blood, the warm red patch growing as his heart continued to pump blood around his body, trying to compensate for the loss of blood, lower oxygen levels in his body…he was dying, his body couldn't support itself. He was going to die alone…and that's what scared him the most. He had come so far…Maya…Miles…Pearl…Hell, even Gumshoe wouldn't know he was gone until it was too late. A sad smile formed on his face before his vision started to darken.

Ace Attorney – Chapter 2: History Repeats Itself

Miles looked up at the clock and sighed. He was only going to be in his office for another fifteen minutes before he would get up and leave, he planned to see Wright, the annoying defence attorney had somehow wriggled his way into Miles' life and the prosecutor wasn't sure how. He was aware that they were seen as rivals in the courtroom, their constant back and forth, constant pushing at each other to seek the truth…maybe that was how Wright had done it? No, he still remembered how Wright had wormed his way into his life when they were back at grade school…the constant smiles, the positivity, the odd sick days when he was out for a day and came back completely fine. That was something that always puzzled Miles, Phoenix's sick days were spontaneous at school. He wondered if they had persisted through his whole school life but asking the man himself just made him uneasy. Especially now he knew about the magatama the man had. Larry…well, there was only so much of Larry that Miles could work with before he wanted to throw Larry in prison himself for his general stupidity.

Without even realising, the fifteen minutes had passed quickly and not it was time to leave. Being punctual (even for Wright) was something that had been drilled into his head by his mentor. The Von Karma way had been drilled into his mind, the desire for a perfect record, afraid of failure…those thoughts clashed whenever Wright said something though. He wasn't afraid of failure unless it came to harm someone close to him. He stood up from his desk and organised his paperwork, putting it neatly away for easy grabbing the following day. He placed the work that needed done ASAP into his briefcase. He lived with Pess, his beloved dog who sometimes betrayed him when he brought Phoenix over. He swiftly left his office and headed towards where his car was waiting for him.

He drove in silence, his mind turning on what to say to Wright once he got there. They often talked about work, cases both parties weren't involved in or if they haven't faced in the courtroom for a while, held a private trial over something so trivial. If Maya was there in the office too and watching Steel Samurai (forcing Wright to watch too) then they'd either get into a heated debate or both would listen to Maya's enthusiasm for the show. There was a slight satisfaction for Miles when Maya forced Wright to watch the show with her. Wright didn't hate the show, or at least never verbally said that but it wasn't his cup of tea. If pulling the show into a courtroom style debate though, Wright knew more than he realised.

Spotting a parking space, Miles parked his sports car perfectly and left. Making his way up the stairs to Wright's office at Wright and Co. As he made his way up the stairs something started to feel…wrong somehow. He couldn't hear the lively chatter from Wright's office between himself and Maya. Maybe Wright had finally sent the girl home before she drove him up the wall. As he approached, his uneasy feeling deepened. Miles felt an invisible pushing him towards the office, something was urging him to go faster. Picking up the pace, a familiar scent started to infiltrate his nose. Something often associated with crime scenes. Miles felt a spark of panic flood his body, was there something wrong? He picked up the pace and entered the office.

His grey eyes landed on a familiar form laying against the wall. His stomach knotted itself and the air left his lungs. He let out a gasp and dropped his suitcase making a loud crashing noise. Miles' mind went blank as he looked at the lifeless form of his friend under the window. It was in the same place as where Mia Fey's body had been found before but there wasn't a headwound, instead there was a wound to the chest. The shirt had been ruined by the blood and hole. Miles slowly approached the body, his feet feeling like lead.

"Phoenix…?" He squeaked, his voice was failing him too. This…this couldn't be happening! Phoenix couldn't die! Not like this! Miles dropped to his knees and felt tears pricking his eyes, growing before they started to cascade down his face. He reached two fingers, trying to find a pulse in Phoenix's neck while silently praying that Phoenix would pull a miracle out and be alive still. He found one. But it was very weak. For a dying man though, his skin was warm…gradually getting hotter the more Miles left his fingers there until he feared that he'd get burnt. Removing his fingers, Miles just stared. What else could he do at this moment?

Slowly, Phoenix opened his eyes and lifted his head slowly to look at Miles. A sad, weak smile formed on his face. "I'm…sorry…" Phoenix spoke, his voice was quiet but just barely loud enough for Miles to hear.

"What?"

Before Miles could do anything, the smell of fire caught his attention. He looked back at the office to see if Phoenix had left something cooking. He looked back at Phoenix before noticing that his hand was engulphed with flames, yet his skin wasn't burning. The flames were rapidly consuming his body. Miles moved away from Phoenix as the man caught fire. The flames licked the windowsill before latching onto the blinds before a blinding light forced Miles to cover his eyes with his arm. By the time the light had faded, there was nothing but a huge pile of ash where Phoenix once was.