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Description
      'Phoenix Wright: Defense Attorney' that's what the plaque on the door read in small black letters. It was behind this very same door that Phoenix sat quietly reading through files. He sighed, the next day he had a trial, his opponent would be a returning prosecutor, one with a nasty temper and even worse whip to express her anger with. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, laying his head back across the headrest. The case he took seemed almost too easy, everything fit into place to make the defendant innocent. "So why am I defending that kid when the Evidence will do it for me?" He thought weakly as his eyes drifted to the clock, "Two in the morning" he groaned and yawned.

        He stood up and stretched, the bones in his spine popped almost silently back into place, after popping out of place as he had sat in that chair for well over eighteen hours. He walked over to the couch that sat conveniently across from his desk, with a soft moan he lay down on the couch and closed his eyes with a sigh. He didn't notice the snow beginning to fall outside the window in small fluttering wisps.

       Phoenix yelped in alarm and fell off the couch as his cell phone rang angrily at his side, vibrating to the song that blasted so clearly from his coat pocket, he snarled slightly at the light peeking through the window and answered, “Phoenix Wright, Attorney at-" "Nick, Are you Awake?!" the shrill voice cut him off almost too cheerfully. "Yes Maya? What is it?" he sighed, trying to keep his temper in check. "You mean you didn't see it? Look Outside!" he could hear Pearl screaming happily in the background and rolled his eyes as she hung up before he could answer. Groaning softly he stood up and looked out his office window.

       His eyes widened at the sight that met his eyes, this was quickly followed by a grin. Snow covered every inch of the streets and buildings around the area.  He could see people struggling to keep balance on the now very slick and icy roads. He smiled widely at the scene outside his window. "Maybe, if I'm really lucky, I won't have to go to court and face von Karma." He glared to his side, contemplating the possibility, before rolling his eyes. "Then again, the Court room isn't the same as a School yard."

      Phoenix sighed as he walked out the door with the files in his hand, he straightened out his shirt and yawned as he closed the door behind him. He exited the building only to cry out as he slipped and fell on the ice that thinly coated the sidewalk. He quietly got back up and dusted himself off, before picking up the file he dropped. He then glared down at the ice and muttered darkly as he began walking for the courthouse, watching each step with caution.

       Phoenix quietly walked down the street in the snow. He couldn’t help but smile as kids ran and slid on the ice near the edge of the road, just to get to school faster. 'Or' he mused 'maybe they're just doing that for the love of skating.'  He could remember how he and Larry would do the exact same thing when there was a snow day, while Edgeworth simply made fun of them from the sidewalk.

        A voice broke him from his reverie, "Well, Mr. Phoenix Wright, enjoying yourself?" He grinned and held back a quip he knew he'd get whipped for. But instead of leaving him alone, Crack! The whip lashed across the side of his face, "I suggest you stop fooling around you foolish fool! After all, you're on your way to certain demise!" he laughed, he couldn't help it. He said, "No, I think Ms. Von Karma, that the evidence will probably make it so the Trial ends with you whipping me to unconscious, as you usually do." Franziska snarled loudly, "Foolish Fool! Are you so confident that you walk with your head in the clouds?" The whip snapped against his side again, he laughed loudly, and angry as she was, she sped up and in doing so spraying him lightly with slush and ice.

     Phoenix sighed as his head dripped with the now melting snow, he shook his head sending a light spray around him. He looked up as laughter filled his ears, the three kids were staring at him. one made a whipping motion while calling out "Wa-pish!" his friends nearly fell over from laughing, Phoenix grinned, "you know, that'll be you when you grow up." They looked at him and laughed, he chuckled, "I'm not kidding, find yourself any job at all and there'll be girls who will constantly kick your butt at any given time." With those final words he walked towards the Courthouse, the kids making whipping noises behind his back. He rolled his eyes and called out, "Shouldn't you little dips be in school?" he then walked a little faster knowing the kids would soon be hitting him with an almost endless rain of snowballs.

     He closed the doors to the courthouse just as the snowballs went flying at him. Courtesy of the little kids enjoying their snow day. They landed on the door with loud reports, and Phoenix sighed in dismay before turning around, only to have a snowball hit him square in the chest, he yelled in shock before falling flat on his back, "Bull's-eye!" Maya cried happily from nearby. He groaned as he heard a soft maniacal laughter from nearby. Franziska then leaned over him and said gleefully, "as I told you before Phoenix Wright, that you were headed for certain demise."  He glared at her, and sat up as she walked away, but another snowball hit him in the face knocking him back down, "GAH!" he yelled. Pearl's laughter echoed in his head.

     He got back up and shook the snow from his suit, sighing as he felt the cold air permeate the cold in the water, he shivered slightly as the soaking coat clung to his shirt and  soaked through to his skin. He shook his head, and sighed before entering the courtroom. A sigh escaped his lips at the looks he received as he walked in, even Franziska looked like she was about to laugh. "Snowballs are work of the devil," he responded to all the looks causing soft chuckles and loud giggles.

        It was going to be a long day, of this Phoenix was all too sure. It was already ten in the morning, but to him it felt liked the day had already past. He sighed darkly as the courtroom doors slammed closed, signaling the start of the trial.
________________

.      Whip marks lined his arms and face as he stepped out of the courtroom, even though he'd gotten 'Not Guilty' and should've been happy, exhaustion was apparent in his eyes. He collapsed on the couch in the lobby and sighed. Just as sleep was about to enclose him from the world Pearl's voice broke through, "Mr. Nick, are you ok?" he looked at her and smiled weakly, "I'll be fine Pearls, I'm just really tired, that's all." Maya then happily interrupted before Pearl could respond, "Well, wake up! We got to go before the snow gets any worse!" Phoenix looked at Maya like she was insane. "It's only an inch or so deep, Maya. This is Los Angeles, the snow isn't getting any deeper any time soon." Both girls looked slightly worried and he sighed, "If you're so worried then go back to the office, or something. I'll join you later, ok?" with that he proceeded to fall face first into the couch. The two young ladies exchanged looks before grabbing their coats, and quietly walking out the door. Both looked equally worried as the snow swirled heavily around them as they made their way to 'Wright & Co. Law Offices'.

       Phoenix snarled lightly as loud yelling awoke him as he was finally about to fall asleep. He cracked one eye open and looked up. Franziska Von Karma was yelling at her 'little brother' Miles Edgeworth. "Just go on, Miles! It's not even snowing that hard! I have another Trial to study for!" "Franziska, you know very well what the weather report said!" she snarled loudly causing Phoenix to glare, neither of them seemed to notice his presence in the room. "To heck with the Weather report! You know very well, those things are never accurate!" with this final word she stomped off, leaving Edgeworth standing near the door shaking his head. "Damn little sisters." Phoenix heard him mutter before hearing the howling wind from outside as the door opened, Edgeworth left and the door slammed shut. Phoenix sighed and buried his head in the pillow once again.

       The phone rang almost urgently in his pocket the loud ring tone jolting him awake making him yelp and fall off the couch. He glared at the number on his phone but answered it anyway, all while getting and odd sense of Déjà vu. "Hello?" "Nick!" he sighed. "Yes, Maya?" "Thank goodness, you're alive! Where are you?!" "I'm still at the Courthouse, and yeah, I'm still alive, so what?" "You don't know do you? It's almost nine Nick, as in nine at night!" Phoenix sighed, "This concerns me how?" he heard a soft sigh of relief he assumed to be Pearl's followed by Maya's voice nearly cracking, "Look outside Nick." Furrowing his eyebrows he walked out of the lobby to a nearby window, placed only two feet off the ground, the snow was leveled exactly with the height. The snow was still pounding the area mercilessly, and was now two feet off the ground. Above that was obscured by the snow still cascading down in a blizzard bad enough to be deemed a Whiteout. "Holy--" "So much for 'one inch' huh, Nick?" the voice from the phone cut him off.

      Soon soft arguing was heard from the other end of the phone followed by a male voice Phoenix instantly recognized. “Wright?” “Yes, Edgeworth?” “Is Franziska there?” Phoenix suddenly took alert to everything around him. “I’m not sure” he answered, this was followed by soft cursing and then “look for her, call me back if you find her.” Edgeworth hung up the phone and suddenly everything seemed to grow louder, the reality of seclusion closing in on the Defense attorney, the clock was a whole room away yet it seemed like it was right next to his ear, the low hum of the florescent lights seemed like a thousand flies were buzzing in his ear.

      Without thinking Phoenix began running, he didn’t know where to, but he glanced in each room he passed as he ran. In one room he found a flashlight and snatched it, ‘I’ll put it back when this is over’ he thought darkly. Finally he stopped at the Cafeteria, glancing in, he gasped softly before sighing heavily with relief. There, alone at a table in the far corner, Franziska von Karma was resting her head on a closed file. Her eyes flickered open and she looked up as Phoenix flicked on the lights to the room. She snarled in annoyance before snapping her whip at Phoenix as he walked towards her. “Why’d you wake me, you foolish fool!?” Phoenix glanced at the file before answering, “It’s nine ’o clock at night, there’s two feet of snow encroaching on the two foot high windows, and we are officially trapped in a blizzard that could easily knock out power to the entire city.” Franziska glared at him, “Ha-ha Phoenix Wright. Nice joke,-” He cut her off before she could reprimand him. “I wasn’t joking Ms. Von Karma. If you don’t believe me go look out the window.” She frowned darkly, preparing to snap the whip again before approaching the window, she gasped in shock at the sight of the snow obscuring everything outside, as Phoenix leaned to the side against the door frame. “Told you so.” He commented as Franziska looked almost murderously at him.

      Both of them jumped as a loud snapping noise shattered through the quiet air. “The power’s out.” Phoenix stated, the whip snapped against the side of his face. “Fool! If the power is out then the lights shouldn’t be on!” he snapped back, “There’s something here in America we call Back-up power Ms. Von Karma! It keeps the lights running while everything else remains dead.” “That’s a lame excuse for such a foolish statement!” Phoenix walked out the door muttering, “Whatever.” Franziska walked out after him, “Where do you think you’re going!?” “If we’re going to survive this storm we need food and water right? Well, there are vending machines all over the place--” she cut him off angrily, “You just said the power was out! How are vending machines going to help!?” he sighed, before grinning, “in case of emergency, you break the glass Ms. Von Karma.” “That’s foolish thinking you foolish fool.” “That may be but it’s better then ‘foolishly’ starving your ‘foolish’ self of food and water.” He put emphasis on the word ‘foolish’ each time causing Franziska to snarl, “Do you have a death wish Phoenix Wright?” “Do you?” he retorted, she screamed angrily and stormed off to the stairs, running up them two at a time.

      Phoenix sighed as he looked out the window at the snow piling high against the window. It was at least a foot higher, and looked like it might break the glass at any moment, large cracks veined across the glass in webs and chunks, looking well like it’d shatter within moments. Phoenix walked towards the cafeteria to distance himself from the cracking window.

      The walk to the cafeteria seemed longer than usual, the walls creaked loudly, the lights flickered and Phoenix looked over his shoulder every few feet almost as if expecting someone to run after him with a knife. His breath quickened along with his step as he now jogged for the cafeteria, the lights flickering darker, and sometimes going out for at least thirty seconds. He sighed in relief when he finally reached the cafeteria doors. Although why this comforted him, he did not know.

      The Cafeteria lights flickered ominously, as though warning Phoenix that the back-up power would soon fail. He looked around before he found what he was looking for in a nearby corner, the vending machines. He pressed a button but the machine he stood at remained unresponsive. The drinks machine wielded the same results, no lights, no numbers, no letters, nothing. He walked over to a table and picked up a chair, he charged the machine’s glass with the chair, and on impact the glass shattered and flew everywhere. He covered his face with his arm as the shards flew around him, landing in his hair and softly clattering around him. He shook it off and began sorting through the items in the machine, plucking out packages that had been broken open by the glass and throwing them in the garbage. He then pulled out the other packages and placed the food on a table as he examined the drink machine, this one would be harder to crack.

      He again picked up the Chair and slammed it into the large plastic covering with a Pepsi bottle on it, the image disappeared as the plastic broke in a clean pattern around where he’d hit it. He hit the chair on the machine again, utterly shattering the rest of the plastic, and ripping some of the wires from their resting place. He placed the chair on the floor and began ripping at the wires as the lights flickered menacingly overhead. Phoenix finally exposed the copper plating that cooled the drinks and pulled it out, exposing the drinks that lay within.

     Phoenix began looking around, knowing he couldn’t carry all of it in his pockets. He searched the room thoroughly finally coming across two nylon bags, most likely used for storage. He stuffed the food and beverages into the bags and walked into the kitchen, hoping there’d actually be more, after finding some pre-made sandwiches he stuffed them in the bag with the food and headed out the door, loud clicking noises emitting from the lights as they flickered and dimmed darkly.

      As he passed the window he stopped and gaped, it was now pushing up to four feet and still storming heavily, and the cracks in the glass creaked loudly, some large chunks popped out of place. Eyes widening, Phoenix ran for the stairs, as he reached the top the glass in each window shattered spilling snow into the courthouse, the storm raged through the halls twirling around Phoenix as he ran up the stairs, covering his face. The lights in the lower level died out and darkness covered the small area he stood in. Thanking the fact he picked up the flashlight, he took it out of his pocket and flipped it on, a large beam of light spilled onto the snow below. He walked up the second set of stairs and turned off the flashlight as he entered the still lit hallway. These lights were flickering as well, loud buzzing noises preceding each flicker.

     He walked down the hallway, both bags of food and beverage slung over his shoulder. He peeked in each room hoping to see a sign of life, but none showed itself it him. Only the flickering, buzzing lights kept him company through the otherwise empty and menacing hallway.

    Phoenix continued searching for any sign of life within the hallway. Only to stop at a door near the end of the hall. The plaque on the door was black, with gold engraving that read, ‘von Karma’.  He knocked quietly before putting his ear to the door. From across the room he heard the papers shuffling followed by a voice that sounded gentle but at the same time almost dangerously scary. “Enter”, was all she said. He opened the door quietly and stepped into the room, only to feel the whip bite his skin angrily. He dropped the two bags as the whippings continued. Though through the pain he heard her yelling, “How dare you show your face in here you pathetically foolish fool, you had no right to say what you said!” “Yes I did!” he countered, the whip burning the skin as it crossed his face. Leaving a deep red line where it’d hit. She stopped and glared at him, “What right would that be?” “Freedom of speech, Ms. Von Karma.” The whip stopped. And she glared, “I am not stupid Phoenix Wright, I know you’re American laws. I am asking what gives you the right to speak to me in a tone that was so mocking.” Phoenix looked up and stared at her, “oh.” He put a hand to his mouth which was now bleeding quite badly from the whip. “for that I have no excuse except to make you realize the gravity of the situation, you think the storm will die out in a few hours when in fact  the windows have shattered downstairs and the storm has invaded the entire lower area of the courthouse.”

      Franziska stared at him, “that makes no difference, the storm could easily--” the look he gave her cut her off. Phoenix ignored her and walked curiously to her desk where a file lay open, its contents scattered strategically across the surface. “DL-6?” He turned to her as she glared at him. “May I ask what reason you have for reading that file?” she looked at the floor, anger apparent in her voice. “Motive. I’m looking for my father’s motive.” Phoenix looked bewildered, “Didn’t Edgeworth explain it?” she shook her head, “he said it would be best if I remained clueless about the situation, which is mainly why I chose to stay behind, I didn’t notice the case file was still here until I found it upon searching for a case I was to bring to him.” “That’s not right.” “In a way, it is right. I have no rights to look through this file, which is why I had to wait for the building to empty.” “It’s still not right, your father was involved in the case, and what right did Edgeworth have to guard such information from you?” “Well, obviously he had a good reason for it!” Phoenix felt his anger rising. Although Franziska didn’t mean it, she was guarding the man who was keeping the truth from her. “Did you find a motive?” he asked, almost already knowing the answer. “No, I didn’t for some reason he must’ve known I’d look through it.” Phoenix shook his head, “even if it was to protect you, he’s hiding evidence.” She glared at him, “protect me!? HA! He simply doesn’t want me knowing because he thinks it might scare me, the foolish foo--” “Why do you think he’s hiding it? To stop you from ‘being scared’ that’s crap and you know it! He’s protecting you Franziska!” the whip lashed across his face as she yelled “NO HE IS NOT!” Phoenix snarled. “Fine,” he began walking for the exit, “You think whatever you want,” he then turned to face her, his eyes flashed, “But it doesn’t make your father any less of a murderer.”

      The whip lashed across him again, and he chuckled darkly, the lights flickered with his chuckle, “Pride. A simple emotion, leading ultimately to an overly conscious ego, all it takes is one little mark to bring the person down.” Franziska snarled, “What on earth are you talking about Phoenix Wright?” “Your Father.” He lights flickered again and he looked her straight in the eye. “His motive was pride. He didn’t care what happened to anyone else, just as long as he kept his ‘perfect record’.” “And why shouldn’t he?” “Because it’s pride in the so called "perfect record' that brought him down." Franziska suddenly looked amused, "Are you saying my father killed in a sense of pride?" He didn't grin, his face stayed straight, "No, his 'perfect record' wasn't so perfect, so, in desperation, he silenced the man who caused that mark." Her eyebrow quirked. "Yeah, right. Papa wouldn't hide something like that, nor would he kill. He'd simply tell those people to stay quiet." "No matter how much you deny it, it won't change the fact." Her eyes widened as Phoenix then told her exactly what happened. "Your father strove for a perfect record, but after winning a case he was penalized for falsifying evidence, angry he headed for the elevator. Just as an earthquake hit, the power went out." She glared "what does that have to do with--?" she was cut off again, "He suddenly heard a gunshot, the glass of the elevator broke and he was hit in his right shoulder, just then the power flicked back on, the elevator came back up and opened, revealing three people inside. One of which was the person who caused his penalty." Franziska's eyes widened as he continued, "Your father noticed the gun at his feet and picked it up, aimed it at Edgeworth's father, and shot him."

      Silence followed this story, broken only by the buzzing of the flickering lights. "Well? Is that enough of a motive for you Ms. Von Karma?" she didn’t say anything, she simply stared at him, anger flashing in her eyes, she raised the whip, ready to strike. "You can whip me all you want Ms. Von karma, but let me warn you, if you keep relying solely on your perfect record, your eventually headed down the very same road your father so stupidly took." "You fool" she countered, "I am nothing like my father." Phoenix gave her a look, "So you really don't care about your perfect record? Or is it that the bullet would in your right shoulder doesn't really exist?" she froze and gripped her right shoulder in horror. "The bullet doesn't count. After all, I was shot on purpose, wasn't I?" "True" he said, "But you were still shot in the right shoulder, whether it was on purpose or not doesn't matter." She gripped her shoulder tighter, before pushing past Phoenix angrily and running out into the hall.

     Phoenix then began slapping his head against the wall, all while muttering, "Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did I have to do that?" he asked himself angrily, "she's probably gonna whip my ass to hell and back, now." He stopped and leaned on the wall, his head beginning to spin. Slowly everything stopped spinning and came into focus.

Just as Phoenix's thoughts cleared and everything focused the lights flickered angrily, the buzzing stopped and the lights flickered and died. Somewhere, down the hall just as the lights went out, a horrified scream echoed back to Phoenix's ears. He turned towards the door, Darkness being his only greeting, and ran into the hall without a though except the few words that escaped is lips, "Please don't be dead."

Description
      'Phoenix Wright: Defense Attorney' that's what the plaque on the door read in small black letters. It was behind this very same door that Phoenix sat quietly reading through files. He sighed, the next day he had a trial, his opponent would be a returning prosecutor, one with a nasty temper and even worse whip to express her anger with. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, laying his head back across the headrest. The case he took seemed almost too easy, everything fit into place to make the defendant innocent. "So why am I defending that kid when the Evidence will do it for me?" He thought weakly as his eyes drifted to the clock, "Two in the morning" he groaned and yawned.

        He stood up and stretched, the bones in his spine popped almost silently back into place, after popping out of place as he had sat in that chair for well over eighteen hours. He walked over to the couch that sat conveniently across from his desk, with a soft moan he lay down on the couch and closed his eyes with a sigh. He didn't notice the snow beginning to fall outside the window in small fluttering wisps.

       Phoenix yelped in alarm and fell off the couch as his cell phone rang angrily at his side, vibrating to the song that blasted so clearly from his coat pocket, he snarled slightly at the light peeking through the window and answered, “Phoenix Wright, Attorney at-" "Nick, Are you Awake?!" the shrill voice cut him off almost too cheerfully. "Yes Maya? What is it?" he sighed, trying to keep his temper in check. "You mean you didn't see it? Look Outside!" he could hear Pearl screaming happily in the background and rolled his eyes as she hung up before he could answer. Groaning softly he stood up and looked out his office window.

       His eyes widened at the sight that met his eyes, this was quickly followed by a grin. Snow covered every inch of the streets and buildings around the area.  He could see people struggling to keep balance on the now very slick and icy roads. He smiled widely at the scene outside his window. "Maybe, if I'm really lucky, I won't have to go to court and face von Karma." He glared to his side, contemplating the possibility, before rolling his eyes. "Then again, the Court room isn't the same as a School yard."

      Phoenix sighed as he walked out the door with the files in his hand, he straightened out his shirt and yawned as he closed the door behind him. He exited the building only to cry out as he slipped and fell on the ice that thinly coated the sidewalk. He quietly got back up and dusted himself off, before picking up the file he dropped. He then glared down at the ice and muttered darkly as he began walking for the courthouse, watching each step with caution.

       Phoenix quietly walked down the street in the snow. He couldn’t help but smile as kids ran and slid on the ice near the edge of the road, just to get to school faster. 'Or' he mused 'maybe they're just doing that for the love of skating.'  He could remember how he and Larry would do the exact same thing when there was a snow day, while Edgeworth simply made fun of them from the sidewalk.

        A voice broke him from his reverie, "Well, Mr. Phoenix Wright, enjoying yourself?" He grinned and held back a quip he knew he'd get whipped for. But instead of leaving him alone, Crack! The whip lashed across the side of his face, "I suggest you stop fooling around you foolish fool! After all, you're on your way to certain demise!" he laughed, he couldn't help it. He said, "No, I think Ms. Von Karma, that the evidence will probably make it so the Trial ends with you whipping me to unconscious, as you usually do." Franziska snarled loudly, "Foolish Fool! Are you so confident that you walk with your head in the clouds?" The whip snapped against his side again, he laughed loudly, and angry as she was, she sped up and in doing so spraying him lightly with slush and ice.

     Phoenix sighed as his head dripped with the now melting snow, he shook his head sending a light spray around him. He looked up as laughter filled his ears, the three kids were staring at him. one made a whipping motion while calling out "Wa-pish!" his friends nearly fell over from laughing, Phoenix grinned, "you know, that'll be you when you grow up." They looked at him and laughed, he chuckled, "I'm not kidding, find yourself any job at all and there'll be girls who will constantly kick your butt at any given time." With those final words he walked towards the Courthouse, the kids making whipping noises behind his back. He rolled his eyes and called out, "Shouldn't you little dips be in school?" he then walked a little faster knowing the kids would soon be hitting him with an almost endless rain of snowballs.

     He closed the doors to the courthouse just as the snowballs went flying at him. Courtesy of the little kids enjoying their snow day. They landed on the door with loud reports, and Phoenix sighed in dismay before turning around, only to have a snowball hit him square in the chest, he yelled in shock before falling flat on his back, "Bull's-eye!" Maya cried happily from nearby. He groaned as he heard a soft maniacal laughter from nearby. Franziska then leaned over him and said gleefully, "as I told you before Phoenix Wright, that you were headed for certain demise."  He glared at her, and sat up as she walked away, but another snowball hit him in the face knocking him back down, "GAH!" he yelled. Pearl's laughter echoed in his head.

     He got back up and shook the snow from his suit, sighing as he felt the cold air permeate the cold in the water, he shivered slightly as the soaking coat clung to his shirt and  soaked through to his skin. He shook his head, and sighed before entering the courtroom. A sigh escaped his lips at the looks he received as he walked in, even Franziska looked like she was about to laugh. "Snowballs are work of the devil," he responded to all the looks causing soft chuckles and loud giggles.

        It was going to be a long day, of this Phoenix was all too sure. It was already ten in the morning, but to him it felt liked the day had already past. He sighed darkly as the courtroom doors slammed closed, signaling the start of the trial.
________________

.      Whip marks lined his arms and face as he stepped out of the courtroom, even though he'd gotten 'Not Guilty' and should've been happy, exhaustion was apparent in his eyes. He collapsed on the couch in the lobby and sighed. Just as sleep was about to enclose him from the world Pearl's voice broke through, "Mr. Nick, are you ok?" he looked at her and smiled weakly, "I'll be fine Pearls, I'm just really tired, that's all." Maya then happily interrupted before Pearl could respond, "Well, wake up! We got to go before the snow gets any worse!" Phoenix looked at Maya like she was insane. "It's only an inch or so deep, Maya. This is Los Angeles, the snow isn't getting any deeper any time soon." Both girls looked slightly worried and he sighed, "If you're so worried then go back to the office, or something. I'll join you later, ok?" with that he proceeded to fall face first into the couch. The two young ladies exchanged looks before grabbing their coats, and quietly walking out the door. Both looked equally worried as the snow swirled heavily around them as they made their way to 'Wright & Co. Law Offices'.

       Phoenix snarled lightly as loud yelling awoke him as he was finally about to fall asleep. He cracked one eye open and looked up. Franziska Von Karma was yelling at her 'little brother' Miles Edgeworth. "Just go on, Miles! It's not even snowing that hard! I have another Trial to study for!" "Franziska, you know very well what the weather report said!" she snarled loudly causing Phoenix to glare, neither of them seemed to notice his presence in the room. "To heck with the Weather report! You know very well, those things are never accurate!" with this final word she stomped off, leaving Edgeworth standing near the door shaking his head. "Damn little sisters." Phoenix heard him mutter before hearing the howling wind from outside as the door opened, Edgeworth left and the door slammed shut. Phoenix sighed and buried his head in the pillow once again.

       The phone rang almost urgently in his pocket the loud ring tone jolting him awake making him yelp and fall off the couch. He glared at the number on his phone but answered it anyway, all while getting and odd sense of Déjà vu. "Hello?" "Nick!" he sighed. "Yes, Maya?" "Thank goodness, you're alive! Where are you?!" "I'm still at the Courthouse, and yeah, I'm still alive, so what?" "You don't know do you? It's almost nine Nick, as in nine at night!" Phoenix sighed, "This concerns me how?" he heard a soft sigh of relief he assumed to be Pearl's followed by Maya's voice nearly cracking, "Look outside Nick." Furrowing his eyebrows he walked out of the lobby to a nearby window, placed only two feet off the ground, the snow was leveled exactly with the height. The snow was still pounding the area mercilessly, and was now two feet off the ground. Above that was obscured by the snow still cascading down in a blizzard bad enough to be deemed a Whiteout. "Holy--" "So much for 'one inch' huh, Nick?" the voice from the phone cut him off.

      Soon soft arguing was heard from the other end of the phone followed by a male voice Phoenix instantly recognized. “Wright?” “Yes, Edgeworth?” “Is Franziska there?” Phoenix suddenly took alert to everything around him. “I’m not sure” he answered, this was followed by soft cursing and then “look for her, call me back if you find her.” Edgeworth hung up the phone and suddenly everything seemed to grow louder, the reality of seclusion closing in on the Defense attorney, the clock was a whole room away yet it seemed like it was right next to his ear, the low hum of the florescent lights seemed like a thousand flies were buzzing in his ear.

      Without thinking Phoenix began running, he didn’t know where to, but he glanced in each room he passed as he ran. In one room he found a flashlight and snatched it, ‘I’ll put it back when this is over’ he thought darkly. Finally he stopped at the Cafeteria, glancing in, he gasped softly before sighing heavily with relief. There, alone at a table in the far corner, Franziska von Karma was resting her head on a closed file. Her eyes flickered open and she looked up as Phoenix flicked on the lights to the room. She snarled in annoyance before snapping her whip at Phoenix as he walked towards her. “Why’d you wake me, you foolish fool!?” Phoenix glanced at the file before answering, “It’s nine ’o clock at night, there’s two feet of snow encroaching on the two foot high windows, and we are officially trapped in a blizzard that could easily knock out power to the entire city.” Franziska glared at him, “Ha-ha Phoenix Wright. Nice joke,-” He cut her off before she could reprimand him. “I wasn’t joking Ms. Von Karma. If you don’t believe me go look out the window.” She frowned darkly, preparing to snap the whip again before approaching the window, she gasped in shock at the sight of the snow obscuring everything outside, as Phoenix leaned to the side against the door frame. “Told you so.” He commented as Franziska looked almost murderously at him.

      Both of them jumped as a loud snapping noise shattered through the quiet air. “The power’s out.” Phoenix stated, the whip snapped against the side of his face. “Fool! If the power is out then the lights shouldn’t be on!” he snapped back, “There’s something here in America we call Back-up power Ms. Von Karma! It keeps the lights running while everything else remains dead.” “That’s a lame excuse for such a foolish statement!” Phoenix walked out the door muttering, “Whatever.” Franziska walked out after him, “Where do you think you’re going!?” “If we’re going to survive this storm we need food and water right? Well, there are vending machines all over the place--” she cut him off angrily, “You just said the power was out! How are vending machines going to help!?” he sighed, before grinning, “in case of emergency, you break the glass Ms. Von Karma.” “That’s foolish thinking you foolish fool.” “That may be but it’s better then ‘foolishly’ starving your ‘foolish’ self of food and water.” He put emphasis on the word ‘foolish’ each time causing Franziska to snarl, “Do you have a death wish Phoenix Wright?” “Do you?” he retorted, she screamed angrily and stormed off to the stairs, running up them two at a time.

      Phoenix sighed as he looked out the window at the snow piling high against the window. It was at least a foot higher, and looked like it might break the glass at any moment, large cracks veined across the glass in webs and chunks, looking well like it’d shatter within moments. Phoenix walked towards the cafeteria to distance himself from the cracking window.

      The walk to the cafeteria seemed longer than usual, the walls creaked loudly, the lights flickered and Phoenix looked over his shoulder every few feet almost as if expecting someone to run after him with a knife. His breath quickened along with his step as he now jogged for the cafeteria, the lights flickering darker, and sometimes going out for at least thirty seconds. He sighed in relief when he finally reached the cafeteria doors. Although why this comforted him, he did not know.

      The Cafeteria lights flickered ominously, as though warning Phoenix that the back-up power would soon fail. He looked around before he found what he was looking for in a nearby corner, the vending machines. He pressed a button but the machine he stood at remained unresponsive. The drinks machine wielded the same results, no lights, no numbers, no letters, nothing. He walked over to a table and picked up a chair, he charged the machine’s glass with the chair, and on impact the glass shattered and flew everywhere. He covered his face with his arm as the shards flew around him, landing in his hair and softly clattering around him. He shook it off and began sorting through the items in the machine, plucking out packages that had been broken open by the glass and throwing them in the garbage. He then pulled out the other packages and placed the food on a table as he examined the drink machine, this one would be harder to crack.

      He again picked up the Chair and slammed it into the large plastic covering with a Pepsi bottle on it, the image disappeared as the plastic broke in a clean pattern around where he’d hit it. He hit the chair on the machine again, utterly shattering the rest of the plastic, and ripping some of the wires from their resting place. He placed the chair on the floor and began ripping at the wires as the lights flickered menacingly overhead. Phoenix finally exposed the copper plating that cooled the drinks and pulled it out, exposing the drinks that lay within.

     Phoenix began looking around, knowing he couldn’t carry all of it in his pockets. He searched the room thoroughly finally coming across two nylon bags, most likely used for storage. He stuffed the food and beverages into the bags and walked into the kitchen, hoping there’d actually be more, after finding some pre-made sandwiches he stuffed them in the bag with the food and headed out the door, loud clicking noises emitting from the lights as they flickered and dimmed darkly.

      As he passed the window he stopped and gaped, it was now pushing up to four feet and still storming heavily, and the cracks in the glass creaked loudly, some large chunks popped out of place. Eyes widening, Phoenix ran for the stairs, as he reached the top the glass in each window shattered spilling snow into the courthouse, the storm raged through the halls twirling around Phoenix as he ran up the stairs, covering his face. The lights in the lower level died out and darkness covered the small area he stood in. Thanking the fact he picked up the flashlight, he took it out of his pocket and flipped it on, a large beam of light spilled onto the snow below. He walked up the second set of stairs and turned off the flashlight as he entered the still lit hallway. These lights were flickering as well, loud buzzing noises preceding each flicker.

     He walked down the hallway, both bags of food and beverage slung over his shoulder. He peeked in each room hoping to see a sign of life, but none showed itself it him. Only the flickering, buzzing lights kept him company through the otherwise empty and menacing hallway.

    Phoenix continued searching for any sign of life within the hallway. Only to stop at a door near the end of the hall. The plaque on the door was black, with gold engraving that read, ‘von Karma’.  He knocked quietly before putting his ear to the door. From across the room he heard the papers shuffling followed by a voice that sounded gentle but at the same time almost dangerously scary. “Enter”, was all she said. He opened the door quietly and stepped into the room, only to feel the whip bite his skin angrily. He dropped the two bags as the whippings continued. Though through the pain he heard her yelling, “How dare you show your face in here you pathetically foolish fool, you had no right to say what you said!” “Yes I did!” he countered, the whip burning the skin as it crossed his face. Leaving a deep red line where it’d hit. She stopped and glared at him, “What right would that be?” “Freedom of speech, Ms. Von Karma.” The whip stopped. And she glared, “I am not stupid Phoenix Wright, I know you’re American laws. I am asking what gives you the right to speak to me in a tone that was so mocking.” Phoenix looked up and stared at her, “oh.” He put a hand to his mouth which was now bleeding quite badly from the whip. “for that I have no excuse except to make you realize the gravity of the situation, you think the storm will die out in a few hours when in fact  the windows have shattered downstairs and the storm has invaded the entire lower area of the courthouse.”

      Franziska stared at him, “that makes no difference, the storm could easily--” the look he gave her cut her off. Phoenix ignored her and walked curiously to her desk where a file lay open, its contents scattered strategically across the surface. “DL-6?” He turned to her as she glared at him. “May I ask what reason you have for reading that file?” she looked at the floor, anger apparent in her voice. “Motive. I’m looking for my father’s motive.” Phoenix looked bewildered, “Didn’t Edgeworth explain it?” she shook her head, “he said it would be best if I remained clueless about the situation, which is mainly why I chose to stay behind, I didn’t notice the case file was still here until I found it upon searching for a case I was to bring to him.” “That’s not right.” “In a way, it is right. I have no rights to look through this file, which is why I had to wait for the building to empty.” “It’s still not right, your father was involved in the case, and what right did Edgeworth have to guard such information from you?” “Well, obviously he had a good reason for it!” Phoenix felt his anger rising. Although Franziska didn’t mean it, she was guarding the man who was keeping the truth from her. “Did you find a motive?” he asked, almost already knowing the answer. “No, I didn’t for some reason he must’ve known I’d look through it.” Phoenix shook his head, “even if it was to protect you, he’s hiding evidence.” She glared at him, “protect me!? HA! He simply doesn’t want me knowing because he thinks it might scare me, the foolish foo--” “Why do you think he’s hiding it? To stop you from ‘being scared’ that’s crap and you know it! He’s protecting you Franziska!” the whip lashed across his face as she yelled “NO HE IS NOT!” Phoenix snarled. “Fine,” he began walking for the exit, “You think whatever you want,” he then turned to face her, his eyes flashed, “But it doesn’t make your father any less of a murderer.”

      The whip lashed across him again, and he chuckled darkly, the lights flickered with his chuckle, “Pride. A simple emotion, leading ultimately to an overly conscious ego, all it takes is one little mark to bring the person down.” Franziska snarled, “What on earth are you talking about Phoenix Wright?” “Your Father.” He lights flickered again and he looked her straight in the eye. “His motive was pride. He didn’t care what happened to anyone else, just as long as he kept his ‘perfect record’.” “And why shouldn’t he?” “Because it’s pride in the so called "perfect record' that brought him down." Franziska suddenly looked amused, "Are you saying my father killed in a sense of pride?" He didn't grin, his face stayed straight, "No, his 'perfect record' wasn't so perfect, so, in desperation, he silenced the man who caused that mark." Her eyebrow quirked. "Yeah, right. Papa wouldn't hide something like that, nor would he kill. He'd simply tell those people to stay quiet." "No matter how much you deny it, it won't change the fact." Her eyes widened as Phoenix then told her exactly what happened. "Your father strove for a perfect record, but after winning a case he was penalized for falsifying evidence, angry he headed for the elevator. Just as an earthquake hit, the power went out." She glared "what does that have to do with--?" she was cut off again, "He suddenly heard a gunshot, the glass of the elevator broke and he was hit in his right shoulder, just then the power flicked back on, the elevator came back up and opened, revealing three people inside. One of which was the person who caused his penalty." Franziska's eyes widened as he continued, "Your father noticed the gun at his feet and picked it up, aimed it at Edgeworth's father, and shot him."

      Silence followed this story, broken only by the buzzing of the flickering lights. "Well? Is that enough of a motive for you Ms. Von Karma?" she didn’t say anything, she simply stared at him, anger flashing in her eyes, she raised the whip, ready to strike. "You can whip me all you want Ms. Von karma, but let me warn you, if you keep relying solely on your perfect record, your eventually headed down the very same road your father so stupidly took." "You fool" she countered, "I am nothing like my father." Phoenix gave her a look, "So you really don't care about your perfect record? Or is it that the bullet would in your right shoulder doesn't really exist?" she froze and gripped her right shoulder in horror. "The bullet doesn't count. After all, I was shot on purpose, wasn't I?" "True" he said, "But you were still shot in the right shoulder, whether it was on purpose or not doesn't matter." She gripped her shoulder tighter, before pushing past Phoenix angrily and running out into the hall.

     Phoenix then began slapping his head against the wall, all while muttering, "Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did I have to do that?" he asked himself angrily, "she's probably gonna whip my ass to hell and back, now." He stopped and leaned on the wall, his head beginning to spin. Slowly everything stopped spinning and came into focus.

Just as Phoenix's thoughts cleared and everything focused the lights flickered angrily, the buzzing stopped and the lights flickered and died. Somewhere, down the hall just as the lights went out, a horrified scream echoed back to Phoenix's ears. He turned towards the door, Darkness being his only greeting, and ran into the hall without a though except the few words that escaped is lips, "Please don't be dead."