Title: Overseas Turnabout
Author: Me
Rating: It won't get explicit, I'll say that. Should be fine at PG or PG-13
Genre: Drama
Status: Not complete
Pairing: none (yet...we'll see as it gets written, and this post will be updated. Valentine's Day occurs during this story, so I'm sure a pairing or two will come out)
Summary: A mere two days after T&T Case 5 wraps up, Edgeworth gets a phone call from Franziska von Karma, who has already flown back to Germany. She's been arrested for an incident that took place just after her return, and is being accused of murder! The evidence against her is stacking up pretty quickly, and all anyone can think of is that she finally went too far with that damned whip. Desperate for justice, she swallows her pride and asks Edgeworth to reach Phoenix Wright. She puts up the money to fly several people to Germany to defend her: Phoenix, Edgeworth, Maya, Pearl, even Gumshoe. It's going to take the whole crew working together to prove Franziska innocent in a land foreign to them, and as the investigation runs its course, some new revelations about the von Karma name are revealed...

Chapter 1

February 12
Wright & Co. Law Offices

"Ni~ick!" Maya's voice rang through the office as she called for Phoenix. "Mr. Edgeworth's on the phone!"

Phoenix's voice called back at her, sounding as though it came from within a fairly small space. "Can you tell him I'll call him back, Maya? I never did get a chance to finish cleaning the toilet before all hell broke loose at the temple."

"Nick, it's important! Mr. Edgeworth really needs to talk to you."

She heard Phoenix groan as he stood up and made his way into the office. Maya sat at his desk with the phone next to her, the receiver lying on the desk's surface. He wore a look of exhaustion -- he must still be recovering from that cold he caught. Slowly, he picked up the receiver.

"This is Phoenix Wright," he said.

"Trying to dodge me, Wright?"

Phoenix could practically see Edgeworth's sarcastic smile. With a chuckle, he replied, "Note to self: the office phone picks up what's said in the bathroom."

"Wright... I just got a phone call from Germany. It was about Franziska..."

Phoenix suddenly grew serious. "What? Did something happen?"

Edgeworth hesitated.

"Edgeworth, is she...is she okay?"

"Not really... She's in jail."

Phoenix gestured for Maya to get up out of his seat so he could sit down. "My God... For what?"

"...Murder."

"What? That can't be, she wouldn't..." His voice trailed off as he remembered Franziska's often controversial whip. Had she meant to kill? Or had she simply gone too far? Had she gotten carried away?

"Wright, you know as well as I do that it's not beyond the realm of possibility, considering that whip she always carries around. Already she looks suspicious, and you haven't even heard the case they've got against her."

"Well," Phoenix took a slightly more upbeat tone, hoping to cheer Edgeworth up, "i-it could be worse. I mean, when I asked if she was okay, the way you had talked up to that point made it sound like she was dead..."

"Don't joke like that, Wright. They're..."

Phoenix dared not say a word. He could hear Edgeworth quivering and could imagine the look of pain on his face.

"They're seeking the death penalty."

Phoenix felt the blood drain from his face. Maya gave him a concerned look, noticing he had suddenly turned as pale as Iris and Dahlia.

"Apparently the case looks pretty bleak," Edgeworth continued. "She asked the authorities there to contact you. But since she doesn't have your number..."

"She gave them yours," Phoenix finished. "So you mean, she..."

"She wants you to defend her. And she already put up the money to fly you out there. You, me, Maya, even Pearl and Gumshoe."

"Gumshoe?" Phoenix asked, half chuckling. "She must be desperate!"

"She is, Wright. I already called him. He's already packed and leaving. Should get there before we do. I've been packing too, and I'm almost done. It's a long flight from LAX to Frankfurt International, so we need to leave as quick as possible. You want me to come over there and help you get packed up?"

"Sure, why not... That'll help us get everything done faster. After all, we've got three people to pack."

"I'll be right over."



February 12
Los Angeles International Airport

"Attention all on board, this is your captain speaking. Please fasten your seat belts, we are about to take off on Flight 758 from Los Angeles to New York..."

"Nick, are we really gonna do this?" Maya asked, half-whispering. She sat on Phoenix's left, and on her left was Pearl, looking out the window in anticipation. On Phoenix's right, on the other side of the aisle, sat Miles Edgeworth. "I mean, I kind of feel sorry for Franziska, but...after all the whips, she kind of deserves it!"

"Deserves the death penalty?" Edgeworth interjected. "I don't think so. Wright, here are the papers the police department emailed me. We've got plenty of time to look them over."

"Thanks, Edgeworth." Phoenix took a manila envelope from Edgeworth, untied the closure on it, and slid the papers out. Maya craned her head to look at them as well. "All right, let's see what we can find out."

As Phoenix looked through the autopsy report and summary of evidence, he felt his heart catch in his throat. For one thing, it was all in German, and he couldn't read German. He was able to deduct from the charts that the victim was a 24-year-old male, and from the diagrams, it looked like he had died of blood loss. Phoenix could only guess this was the cause of death, as it looked like had multiple wounds. Phoenix believed, judging by the shapes of the wounds, that they were slash marks. He counted thirty-two wounds, as high up as the back of the head and as low as the ankle. Out of the thirty-two, three were fairly small and were located on the right arm. In fact, they probably didn't even break the skin. These three were more like just bad scrapes or scratches.

Phoenix stared at the autopsy report, his whole mind blank. He hadn't dealt with something like this before. A body this badly mutilated... Even his worst murder cases had only been a single gunshot, a single stab, or poisonings. He couldn't tell where the crime scene was from what he had in front of him, and he was nervous to see it. This wasn't just a murder -- it was a slaughter. Seeing this, however, he did begin to feel his heart rise a little as he realized Franziska could never have done this. During the last case, and a year ago when she had helped to save Maya from that assassin, she began to distance herself from her father. She showed that she is her own woman, and Phoenix had gotten the distinct feeling that she didn't approve now of the way her father had raised her. Franziska might be headstrong and fierce, but ultimately, Phoenix knew that Edgeworth believed she had a good heart. And Phoenix believed it too. Although he didn't know Franziska that well, he knew her well enough to believe her, and to believe she was innocent.

And then he turned the page.

The evidence summary section showed photographs and data of all the pieces of evidence collected so far. And his eyes were locked on the first photograph. He realized his hand was shaking and his heart had sped up as he stared at it.

"Oh no," Maya whispered. "That can't be good."

The first piece of photographed evidence from the crime scene was a whip.

Last edited by JakeARoonie on Sun Mar 01, 2009 4:41 am, edited 3 times in total.

Well, well, well. I find the idea interesting. A Franziska who is a defendant, is a good idea. I'm waiting to see more, to tell you what I really think of it. But it's a good beginning.

wow, this is a pretty good story so far! i wonder why so few people have read it???
are you gonna write more?
poor franny! accused of murder =(
xxx

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I AM still working on this and I DO intend to finish it, but I realized after posting that first part that it's a lot harder than I thought to write a case that looks one way and turns out to be different. That, and I never made a note of what the "new revelations about the von Karma name are," and now I can't remember! x_x Anyway, I'm going through the timeline of events from the killer's point of view and trying to think how I would cover it up, and I'll let the team work from that.

I don't know anything about Germany's court system, but I'll operate under the assumption that if Franziska could be a prosecutor there since 13 and then just fly right over to America and start prosecuting like a star here, there's probably little difference...at least in the Phoenix Wright world. ;)

But yes, this is still being worked on.

Ah, good. This does seem like a good story. But Fransiska getting arrested? Hm...

Jail? I'l show you jail, foolishly foolish fool!

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This seems nice! But I have to agree with you that you have made it a bit hard for yourself. ;) But I'm sure you'll be able to write the rest of the story! I'll be reading it. =D

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So far, so good. We'll se if you manage to keep up with sucha difficult task, I trsut you will, you have my support for this summer (In Chile BTW, Summer: December, January, February, and part of march) that I'll read every chapter of this fic. And I secretly hope you end up giving some Franny/Nick Muahahahahaha!! Nah, just kidding but hoping.

Good luck and go for it.

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Hehe this is a great idea. I was actually saving it for the last case of my Sprite Comic, so don't go around saying I stole the idea! XD

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This fanfiction is really good, and the author is as well, considering you actually took such a hard task. Usually, case fanfictions are the longest, but if they are done at all, they are done well.. I hope that you will write more!

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Looks interesting! I wonder if Franziska'll tone down a bit in the dention center?

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This fic is shaping up to be really interesting, and the first part is really good! Looking forward to further parts.

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Very good ^^ Can't wait for more

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The start is really good!! I love the idea of Franziska being the defendant! Can't wait for the next chapters to come out.

Good luck with the next chapters!