*CRACK* *CRACK*
“OWW!” I screamed. The whip left a considerable red mark on my left arm.
“Phoenix Wright! Invite me in!” demanded Franziska Von Karma, the German prodigy prosecutor whom I was all too familiar with. Pearl scurries off into the other room.
“Er…come on in,” I stammered. It had been a while since I’d seen her. She still had on her trademark black gloves and suit with the white sleeves.
“Well? Aren’t you going to pull up a chair for me?” she requests. I gaze briefly at the couch next to us. Finally, I simply do as she wishes and fetch a chair from the other room. “Foolish fool, doesn’t even know how to treat a lady,” I hear her mutter. As I reenter the room, I notice the look on Von Karma’s face: slightly agitated, perhaps a bit impatient – like she needs to be somewhere or be doing something important.
“How may I help you, Ms. Von Karma?” I say with a sigh, sitting down in my own chair. She clears her throat.
“As you may have already known, I was on business in Europe. However, I decided to venture back after I received some news of a foolish variety.”
“And that would be?” I inquire, slightly intrigued.
“Why, Edgeworth’s foolish decision to not testify in court, of course,” she says matter-of-factly. “I have come to grant him a retrial.”
“B-but…” I splutter. “I thought there was no hope left for him? I thought you could only be tried once for the same crime.”
“Foolhardy fool with a foolishly foolish nature,” she spits. “In your country, a retrial can occur for a variety of reasons. He plead the Fifth, which generally prohibits a retrial unless the verdict was “guilty” or undecided in the first case. Honestly, do you know anything about law, Mr. Phoenix Wright?”
“Well…good! Great! So you’re saying there is a chance we can save him, Ms. Franziska Von Karma?” I reply, mocking the way she addresses me by my full name.
“That’s why I’m here, Phoenix Wright. I want you to be the defense attorney when his retrial occurs.”
I looked away. Of course I want Edgeworth to be freed of all charges, as I believe firmly in his innocence. But I failed him once…how can I go back in there and risk failing him again?
“Look…” I began. “I don’t think I can-“
“Oh, stop with all this nonsense, Phoenix Wright,” she interrupts.
“…Von Karma…”
She continues. “As much as I hate to admit it, you are the greatest defense attorney I have ever battled in court. Afterall, you are the first to defeat me. If anyone can save Edgeworth, it’s you.”
“Th-thank you…” A tear nearly wells up in my eye.
“Hmph,” she bumbles. “Anyway, I will be the prosecutor on the case this time around.”
“But…” I stutter in my confusion. “You just said you want me to defend Edgeworth. That would imply you are knowingly taking part in a court case that you intend to lose!”
Von Karma looks out the window and remains silent. The faint sound of birds chirping and a light wind banishes the silence. Then, all in one motion, she runs her hand through her hair, stands up, and starts toward the door.
“Three days, Phoenix Wright,” she says. “The trial begins in three days. I will expect you there.” And she promptly walks out of the office building and closes the door.