Smoke was rising skyward in thick columns. He was close to where he'd been raised, a three story apartment block with fourteen other families. He panicked. Could it be? He rushed through a short cut to the apartment block.

It was his worst nightmare. The building was on fire.
"Apollo!" Serenity cried rushing up to him. "Mom! She's still in there!"
"What?" he felt himself lose control. "Katie!?" He screamed and rushed into the flames.

"Apollo!" Serenity screeched. She then clung harder to baby Aaron in her arms.

The heat was unbearable as Apollo leapt through a tiny gap between the flames. Why the fuck isn't the sprinkler system working!? He began to choke, he could feel the black smoke clogging his lungs. He spluttered as he covered his jaw and ran up the crumbling staircase to the next floor. 229! He slammed his weight into the door, as it landed flames clawed out the room.

"Katie!" He choked.

"A-Apollo!" She coughed. "G-get out of here!" Flames were getting closer to her as she was trapped in the corner by a fallen column.
"No way! Not without you." He braved the heat and tumbled in. The column was wood, if the flames got any closer…he gulped. He wasn't sure what to do. He grabbed the column, if he could move it from the fire he could get Katie out before it set alight. He pulled and tumbled back, feeling his back flare. He screeched and scrambled forward.
"Apollo!" He grabbed her tight. The floor was beginning to crumble, the room underneath was crumbling.
"It's ok mom, it's gonna be fine." He tugged her up and lifted her legs so he could carry her easier.

He wasn't sure how he'd managed to escape the blazing inferno again on the way out. He lowered her to the floor.

"Is anyone else in there?" He demanded, coughing as he tried to take in as much fresh air as he could.

"Our neighbour!" Katie coughed. "She's pregnant Apollo! Get her out please!"

"230!" Lisa cried.

"Got it. Keep an eye on her." Apollo rushed off again.

"That kid's gotta be insane!" Some onlookers declared.

The door for apartment 230 came from it's hinges with a gentle tug. Apollo felt as his hand got scolded from the hot metal of the knob. Again, the girl was trapped. The ceiling above her had caved in and some of the support beams had landed on her arms. She was frantically trying to tug free.

"W-who are you?" She coughed as Apollo rushed over, avoiding the flames which were growing around him.

"My name's Apollo. I used to live next door." He glanced down at her tummy. "You're pregnant? How far?"

"7 and a half months!" She cried.

"I'm gonna get you out." Apollo promised. "Whatever you do though, keep looking at my eyes." She did as he said. He struggled to pull the beams away and they ended up fuelling the flames more. As she was freed she fell back and Apollo managed to save her from being burnt to death.

By now, the fire service had arrived.
"Alright, keep calm ok." He tried to shush the woman to keep her unborn baby from suffering. He gasped for air as he got her out, handing her to the paramedics as soon as he could. His chest was rising in short, sharp bursts. "Is there anyone else?"

"We don't know." The firemen tried to stop him from going back, yet the knowledge that by now, if he'd waited for them to arrive, the fire could have claimed the two people he had saved. He rushed back into the building to try and get others free. Now, the fire was destroying the stairs and Apollo had no choice but to make a leap of faith.

-x-x-

There was but one person left, he'd got several people out, the fire brigade a few more. It was a young girl, maybe five years old. Her brown hair was almost black from the ash and she was trapped, her mother was frantic and also trapped.
"You by the window!" The smoke was beginning to affect him now. "Call for the fire brigade to get a ladder up here! I'll get your kid out!"

"O-ok!" She leaned out the window and screamed as loud as she could.

"It's ok sweetie. I'm gonna get you out." Apollo tried to sound soothing, although his voice was horse from all the smoke.
"Please mister!" She sobbed. There was an opening between several flames and he had no choice but to try and fit through. Her leg had been crushed by some debris and he had to try and force her free. Her shriek was ear splitting.

"It's ok shush, shush, you're free now." He assured her. He had no choice but to again try and leap through the flames. He'd just managed. He was about to climb free too as he handed the little girl to the fireman's open arms when he heard a cry, the cry of an animal, of a dog.

It was only a small puppy. He tried to reach through a very small gap to grab the puppy's neck, as he did the building quaked and debris dropped on his outstretched arm. It was only made worse when the fire spread to the debris. He screamed in pain, desperately trying to pull free as he grabbed the puppy with his free arm. It yelped and scratched hard at his bracelet. He felt a numbing sensation before pulling his trapped arm free.

-x-x-

He'd blacked out as soon as he'd gone back to solid ground, a combination of the smoke inhalation and the burns across his arm. He could smell the scent of steriliser as soon as he came too.

"Ah, you're awake Mr Justice." The nurse smiled, placing a needle down on the desk.

"I blacked out huh?" His voice was back to normal.

"Unfortunately. Still you've come to now." His right arm was still numb. "Lucky for you that you damaged your right arm instead of your left. Otherwise we would have had to slice off that lovely bracelet of yours."

"Is everyone else ok?" He groaned as he felt his arm being lifted onto a solid surface.

"You really are caring. The little girl has a broken ankle, the first woman you got free…she has a few burns and bruises."

"And the pregnant girl?"

"We had to deliver her baby by caesarean section, it's on life support but we're positive both her and her child will pull through." She shouted the doctor in.

"Mr Justice." The blond gentleman began. "You are a very brave man indeed. I'm surprised you escaped." Apollo managed to force himself to look down at his arm. The skin was a very, very dark red and was charred in places. The burn covered from his elbow to palm as well.
"Gee the fun…" Apollo sighed before wincing in pain as they began to bind it in bandage. "Wait! What about my trial?"
"Well, I suggest you get a few hours sleep first. We're going to set up a feed from here to the courthouse." The nurse began.

"Apollo…" Katie stood silent in the doorway as the nurse and doctor left. Apollo moved his freshly bandaged hand back on to his lap. "Thank you so much…"

"I can't believe it. We were in a burning building and it was the first time I ever called you mom…"
"I know…" She sat in the leather chair beside him, holding his unharmed hand. "I'm really grateful the kids were all out the building…" She said it solemnly. "There's a member of the fire service here to see you by the way." Sure enough a man came in.

"Mr Justice. I am the captain of the fire service…" He seemed to be unwilling to move from the nearby door. "You were very good out there. If you hadn't got this woman out she would have died, along with the little girl. If the pregnant lady inhaled any more smoke her unborn child would be dead too…you went above and beyond your duty."
"Thank you sir but I acted on impulse…" He admitted.

It wasn't long before he was left to rest.

-x-x-

"Who the fuck are you?" Spencer scowled in the way only a posh mommy's boy could.

"My name is Phoenix Wright. Unfortunately, I will have to be in the defence stand today."
"Wait! Apollo ditched me?"
"No, I don't suppose you'd have access to a television though. He rescued some people from a burning building…he got his hand trapped and has suffered third-degree burns on his arm. He's still in the hospital."

"He…what?" Spencer didn't seem to want to take the news.
"Listen, they're setting up a webcam from the hospital to here, I'm just standing in the stand, he's doing all the work." He left to set up the laptop.

"Apollo! Are you ok?" The words sounded like a chorus as the webcam was set up.

"Yeah, just got this is all." He held up his tightly bound arm to the camera.

-x-x-

Apollo was so close to finding the real killer. He could taste it.
"There will be a recess for thirty minutes." The gavel banged three times. Apollo breathed a sigh of relief throwing his head back on to the cushion behind him. Klavier and Ema were still screaming at each other in the stands, he felt so guilty, hiding what Klavier had been doing from Ema.

"Apollo…" The man in a khaki uniform seemed familiar to the young man on the bed.

"Danny…?" Apollo almost fainted. Danny was his foster father, he was serving in Iraq for the last two years.
"Thank you for saving Katie." He smiled.
"You don't need to thank me. What are you doing here!?"
"Finished serving. I can finally see my family again and finally hold baby Aaron in my arms."

Apollo glanced back to the camera. Klavier and Ema were screaming at each other yet again.

"Can you take me to the courthouse later?"
"Of course. By the way, some girl in the maternity ward wants to thank you for saving her and her baby. I'm gonna see Katie." Danny turned to leave.

"Wait up!" He followed.

-x-x-

Apollo felt honoured. The young woman with her baby had asked for his permission to name her baby boy after him. He wished her and her child good luck and begged Danny to rush him to the courthouse. He was going to put an end to the feud between Klavier and Ema.

Ema had locked herself in the women's toilets, she was in a mess. Make-up had ran down her cheeks from crying. Klavier wouldn't believe her, she needed Apollo to be there beside her. She needed him to whisper in her ear 'everything's going to be fine' and hold her close. Then again…he did say, he would end the relationship…

"…Apollo…" She sobbed.