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Phoenix sipped his coffee, the warm liquid traveled down his throat as he looked over the newest case file. The victim had been stabbed in their own bathroom. He sighed as a gentle breeze flowed through the slightly opened window. It calmed his nerves. That was good, he didn’t like being too anxious after all.
The defense attorney yawned and leaned back on the couch. Maybe he could rest for a few minutes.
“Nick!!” Maya yelled from behind his monitor, “I think I broke something!”
Phoenix stood up from his place on the couch. He arched his back and stretched. So much for a little relaxation.
“What’d you do, Maya?” Phoenix headed towards the computer.
He didn’t notice a small, black paw slip something into his drink.
“Hey Maya, I’ll be right back. I’m feeling a bit sick,” Phoenix said as he held his stomach. Maybe he shouldn’t have drank that coffee earlier . Maya looked at him with slight concern.
“Nick, are you gonna be okay? Will you be able to defend?” Maya asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Phoenix assured her, “Just wait for me in the courtroom,” He could feel bile climb up his throat. His hand went to cover his mouth; and Maya’s worry didn’t seem to falter.
“Well, you get better quickly! The trial’s about to start!”
“Yeah, yeah,” and with that, he headed towards the washroom.
When he finally made it to the toilets, he felt like he could barely stand on his feet. The world seemed to start spinning around him. Phoenix staggered over to the closest stall and pushed the door open. He fell to his knees and retched up a stream of vomit into the bowl. He heaved the rest of his stomach contents and watched it splash into the water. Phoenix cringed and panted. His body shivered. Was he really ready to defend today’s trial?
He had to, his defendant was counting on him. He once finished a trial with amnesia! He could survive a little sickness. With newly found hope, he flushed the disgusting bile and left the stall. Those encouraging feelings didn’t stop his headache though.
Phoenix leaned against the sink and peered at his reflection with narrowed eyes. His legs felt weaker than before, and he was too fatigued to call out loudly enough for help. That didn’t stop him from trying.
The attorney jolted when he heard footsteps enter the washroom. Had someone heard him cry out? He was elated to find a person who could maybe aid him.
“Hey! C-could you-,”
His euphoria quickly diminished and was replaced with a feeling of distress when the person clamped their hands around his mouth. He kicked and squirmed as best as he could, but the perpetrator’s hold didn’t falter. Sweat appeared on his forehead as he continued to struggle. With heightened anxiety, Phoenix attempted to yell, but was muffled by the hand’s grip. He wasn’t aware that his badge was now missing from his lapel.
He flinched as a sharp, thin object pierced the skin of his neck. His eyes dilated with horror. Was he going to die? Would his body ever be found? Thoughts of despair raced through his mind before his eyes fluttered closed; his consciousness fading.
The abductor carried the immobile (but still breathing) lawyer out of the room in their arms. Phoenix’s attorney badge was left on the tiled floor.
A white paw picked it up.
“Upupupupu~”
Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth waited patiently in his stand with his arms crossed. Across the room from him, Maya Fey wore a face of concern. Nick should be back by now. Should she go and check up on him? She fidgeted nervously; and the prosecutor caught this. He chose not to say anything.
Where is Wright? Edgeworth wondered. Miss Fey should have an explanation regarding his lateness. Before he could ask, the judge banged his gavel against the wood.
“This court is hereby in session!” The judge glanced at both the defense and prosecution stand. “Where is the defense?”
“Nick was a little sick, so he went to the washroom! He’ll be back in a little bit your honor!” Maya explained, still fidgeting. Edgeworth raised an eyebrow. Well, there was his answer.
“Sick? I hope it’s not contagious!” The judge exclaimed. The spectators began to murmur.
Don’t take too long Wright.
This went on for a while. The spectators gave their opinions to one another, Maya continued to fidget and Edgeworth was left with his own thoughts.
Even more time passed, and the judge decided that it had been too long.
“Well, if the defense isn’t ready, I’ll hand down my verdict!” The judge announced and brought the gavel up.
“Wait, your honor! I can go check up on him! Please let me go!” Maya pleaded, the urgency in her voice was clear.
“Very well, you have five minutes, Miss Fey.” The gavel was brought back down. Edgeworth let out a relieved sigh he was unaware of even holding in.
“Oh thank you, your honor-,”
“OHOHO, HOLD ON!” A voice shrieked from above the courtroom. Everyone turned their eyes to the source of the sudden shout.
A small figure jumped down from the ceiling and landed in the middle of the courtroom.
“Upupupu! Can’t start this trial without Monokuma!” It proclaimed and twirled around.
The newly dubbed ‘Monokuma’ was some sort of robotic bear. It was white on the left side and a chilling black on the other. It’s stubby limbs were in the air as it bounced up and down excitedly. The bear’s stomach area and snout was as colorless as it’s white half. The left side looked like a marketable teddy bear you would see inside a toy store. On the other hand, Monokuma’s black side had a big, unsettling smile; and a sinister red eye.
Everyone was in shock, but Miles snapped out of it quickly. He banged his hand against his desk.
“What is the meaning of this? What are you?” He scowled and demanded a response.
“Upupupu~ you’re in no position to order me around kid! And didn’t ya hear me? I’m Monokuma!” It repeated, albeit slightly annoyed. “But since you guys deserve a little context, I’ll tell ya!” Before Monokuma said anything else, chains abruptly covered the doors leading out of the room. They were all trapped. Frantic yells erupted from the crowd inside.
“Hey hey hey! Everyone shut up!” Monokuma ordered in a piercing tone and the gallery quieted down. Although the fear could be felt everywhere. “Upupupu~ now that is dealt with, this might be helpful!”
Monokuma grabbed something from behind itself and held it high in the air.
A golden defense attorney's badge glinted in Monokuma’s black paw.
“What is that? I can’t tell from up here,” the judge squinted at the glimmering object in its paw.
Irritated, Monokuma said, “ Perhaps Mr. Prosecutor over there can tell!” The bear jumped onto the prosecution stand and handed Edgeworth the badge, and he could feel his breathing stop. His mind scrambled to put all the pieces together.
Is this.. An attorney’s badge? Edgeworth’s eyes widened with shock.
“Mr. Edgeworth, can you tell what it is?” The judge asked.
“An at-attorney's badge..” He slammed a hand onto his desk once more and shouted at the robotic bear, “Why do you have this?”
Monokuma’s red eye glowed dangerously and gave a dark chuckle.
“Finally, I’ve been waiting for this! And I’m sure the readers have been also!” With that, the monitors emerged from inside the judge’s desk. A video feed flashed upon the screen. It appeared to be live according to the red flashing dot in the corner.
Edgeworth was bewildered but that was soon replaced by dread and despair when a man in a blue suit was shown wandering through some sort of maze.
“Wright?”
The dark corridors seemed endless. Phoenix roamed the gray labyrinth, searching for a way out. Television screens covered the cracked and mossy walls. The eerie message of try to survive was still burnt into his memory.
He ran a hand through his spiky hair. A stray strand fell out but he made no attempt to put it back. When he had awoken, his first thought was, where am I? Phoenix took a deep breath. He would escape, he had to. With that message, the lawyer had to be wary. For all he knew, this place could have a multitude of traps!
A light emitted from all of the screens. They all showed a teenage girl with gigantic pink pigtails.
“That’s the man of the hour, Mr. Phoenix Wright!” The girl grinned, “The Ultimate Defense Attorney!”
“Ultimate?” He stared in wonder. What did that mean?
“Not really, but that’s not important now! All you need to focus on is getting outta here! Your friend’s lives depend on you! Edgeworth’s, Maya’s, everyone!”
“What?! What’re you doing to them?” Phoenix’s gasped. The air was thick down here.
“Nothing! At least, not yet~” She grinned. Phoenix didn’t bother asking for her name, the only thing that was in his mind was, get out. He was still a little weak from whatever was injected into him, but at least he could comprehend everything clearer. That headache was going to bother him though.
He trudged through the gloomy corridors. A countdown appeared on the screen, ten, nine, eight. He quickened his pace. The numbers glowed a menacingly bright crimson. The once dark hallways were now a dangerous shade of red. His breath quickened.
Five, four, three. Phoenix could feel his heart beat. He brought his shaky hands to his chest and clutched his arms tightly. His lips quivered and his eyes were blown wide. He hobbled close to the walls. Shouldn’t have done that.
Two, one, zero.
A saw popped up from a crevice in the wall and sliced Phoenix’s arm, a warm liquid gushed out from the new wound. Phoenix screamed. The pain shot through his arm and he went to cover the gash. The blood poured down his arm as he tried to bear the feeling of his skin being ripped open. Tears formed at the corner of his eyes. The screen flashed back to the teenager.
“Now you know what’s gonna happen in here! Remember, your friends are on the line!” She cackled loudly. Her laugh surrounded the attorney. He trembled hastily while trying to ignore the searing pain in his arm. If any more traps appeared, he had to be ready.
He wasn’t ready for any of them.
Phoenix staggered down the hallway. With every step he felt more drained, more dizzy. His heavy pants echoed in the dreary passages. He put a foot in front of himself and felt the floor sink a little.
Metal rods arose from the floor and impaled his foot. Blood splattered around him and he dropped down. Phoenix let out a shrill shriek as the awful feeling stung. He managed to rise back up and get his foot from off of the rod. The sound of his flesh being removed from it made him want to retch, but he held it in.
The lawyer limped with now two life threatening injuries, but he still carried on. He only worried about one thing, the state of his friends. The safety of them was more important than his own, and if he wanted to see them again, it was essential to survive , survive, survive.
He wished to cut through the thick air, but all he could do was wheeze and gasp. Phoenix turned another corner.
Out, out, where is out?
Two deafening bangs rang out. A small object collided with his shoulder, and another hit his lower leg. Phoenix stumbled back, wincing as he clenched his teeth. Though, he still stood and trudged on. Another object hit his forehead and more of that warm liquid gushed out. His headache was now godawful. He resisted the urge to put a hand onto it. He still had other places that oozed blood.
“Upupupu~ and he still moves on! How long will it take for the great Phoenix Wright to drop?” That damning grin was back. Phoenix clenched his teeth together harder and scowled.
“What do you want from me?!” He raged at the screen. The teenager’s smile mocked him on the other side. “What did I ever do to you?”
“The answer is nothing, you didn’t do anything to me. It’s about what your death will do to all your loved ones. Once you drop dead, this footage will be shown to all of them. They’ll all feel absolute despair!” Phoenix’s eyes widened, “Isn’t that just so exciting!”
She continued in a more serious tone, “I know what you’re thinking Wright. No one's coming save you. In a few minutes, all you’re going to be is another corpse rotting away sadly.”
Phoenix shakily pointed a finger at the screen in a familiar way.
“That’s wrong! I’ll find my way out and I-I’ll save my friends!” He stuttered, blood trickled down his mouth. His throat was sore and he was parched. The last drink he consumed was that coffee that he’s pretty sure was poisoned in some way, but that wasn’t important now.
“Upupupupu~ that’s the hope I want to crush! You better get going lawyer man, it’s not over yet,”
Phoenix glared at the women, his cheeks flushed. Oh how he hated her, despised her, detested her. He didn’t care if she was a young teen, he wanted to see her dead, or at least behind bars. He couldn’t focus on her though, the people he cared about needed him.
He dodged more saws, and narrowly avoided some throwing stars. His vision blurred, either from his headache or the loss of blood. Not yet, I can’t give up yet.
“Y’know, since you loved the last one, I’ll give you another countdown. Maybe a miracle might happen!” The numbers were back. This time, the women was the one who counted down,
“Ten, nine, eight,”
He limped and stumbled frantically, it was a race against the clock. A trail of precious liquid was left behind him.
“Seven, six, five,”
His quickened breaths could be heard. Phoenix coughed, small droplets of blood splattered across the floor.
“Four, three,”
“AAAHHGGH!” His cry of distress reverberated across the walls.
“Sorry! I forgot I had to most despairingly short attention span!” A chuckle could be heard.
One more metal rod could be seen sticking out of Phoenix’s thigh.
“Mr. Phoenix Wright, you should know that there are going to be no miracles. You’ll never get out and no one’s gonna help you,”
The rod retracted. Phoenix stumbled forwards.
“I-“ He panted, “ I won’t give up!” Phoenix swiped a bloody hand across one of the many monitors. The girl’s smirk only grew, “We will take you down! It won’t end like this!” He needed to keep going, for them..
After what felt like an eternity, a door with a big, bold ‘GOAL’ on it was in sight. Phoenix’s eyes sparkled at the thought of seeing everyone again. He didn’t acknowledge the fact that this door could also be another trap set up by the obviously insane girl.
The lawyer, thrilled to see an exit, twisted the doorknob and was greeted by sight that made his heart ache.. Larry, Maya, Miles, and even Mia was there, He reached a hand towards them.
A spear slipped passed his fingers and straight through him. When he realized what was happening, multiple spears rose from the ground and pierced different parts of his body.
He gasped in pain, not being able to produce any more sound then that. His stomach, arms, lungs, and legs all screamed with pain.
He didn’t know what hurt more, the spears impaling his body, or the thought he would never see his friends again.
With his last bit of strength, Phoenix rasped out, “I’m s-sorry guys..”
He went limp. Never to move again.
Everyone in the courtroom stared at the monitors in abject horror. The defense attorney that was supposed to be behind his stand was in a maze filled with deadly mechanisms. Edgeworth couldn’t move, his legs refused to listen. A sense of dread creeped up his spine. His childhood friend, his rival, Phoenix Wright , was down in a mysterious location, suffering , and he couldn’t do anything about it. The world blurred around him, he didn’t comprehend Maya’s yells of “Nick!” or the bear’s unsettling laughter. All he could focus on was of Phoenix’s pain and agony as the battered man staggered to find an exit.
If he ever caught that teenage girl, he was going to strangle her.
Miles watched as spears, bullets, saws and other harmful weapons came to incapacitate and kill Phoenix. Even with all the trauma and anguish, even with the screams and cries, Phoenix Wright refused to give up.
When he saw Phoenix go limp on the spears, Edgeworth felt his own heart stop.
A sense of despair coursed through him.
Tears streamed down his face, but he smiled.
Everyone’s eyes spiraled.
Somewhere, the spirit Mia Fey cried.
“Now we’re all united as one! Congratulations! Upupupu~”