Hi! I was sitting amidst the chaos that currently is my living room watching Fawlty Towers when I got this idea... and it wouldn’t go away. So I had to put it down, didn’t I...Good Grief... what on earth have I done?

“DADDY!” came the mournful wail from the hall.

“Yes, Trucy?” Phoenix Wright appeared in the hallway, one hand holding a letter from Kurain and the other holding a slice of buttered toast. His hat was, for the first time in all of two years, in the wash, after much pestering from both Trucy and Apollo. This meant that his spiky hair stuck up at all angles, further adding to the morning effect.

“Look.” Trucy handed him a red envelope, pouting. Phoenix gave it a disdainful look, and opened it.

“Final reminder... six months overdue... blah blah blah... eviction...” The man looked at his daughter calmly. “Trucy. They say this kind of stuff all the time; it’s nothing to worry about.” Trucy took the letter off him.

“Let me see.” She said. “Daddy. This says almost exactly the same as the grocery bill did last month. You didn’t pay that either, and we can’t go to that store anymore. This time it’s the rent. It’s even more serious than the groceries!” By now, Trucy had her hands on her hips. Phoenix knew better than to argue with her when she was in that mood, but, luckily for him, her eyes caught sight of the clock on the wall.

“Oh no!” she wailed, as she grabbed her schoolbag and raced for the door, stopping only to greet Apollo on the doorstep before tearing around the corner towards the bus stop.

Later, when Trucy arrived home from school, and began to tell Apollo her troubles, Phoenix surprised them both by announcing that he’d written a cheque to pay the rent. Trucy leapt up and hugged him.

“Trucy. You know that cheque has almost cleaned our bank account right out, don’t you?” Phoenix warned. “The agency needs more money.” Apollo opened up his copy of the Wright Anything Agency’s accounts on Microsoft Excel and began to tap in the new information. Then he did some sums. He did them again.

“Uuuuuh...” He said.

“What?” Asked an eager Trucy.

“Ummm... The agency won’t be able to make more money... me and Trucy can’t do that...” Said Apollo, blushing.

“Hey! I make some money too, you know.” Phoenix said. He was met by raised eyebrows from two faces.

“How much did you make last week, Mr. Wright?” Asked Apollo.

“About... $600?” Phoenix guessed. Apollo shook his head.

“You work for the minimum wage... That’s $6.50 an hour, and you work four hours every day except Sundays. That’s six days... six times four is twenty four... twenty four times six dollars fifty... I was right. One hundred and fifty six dollars a week. And that’s not with the tax taken off.”

“You’ve got to admit, it’s not much...” Trucy looked sad.

“Plus, I work whenever I get a case, so I make, on average, about $75 a case, and fifty percent of that goes to the agency-“

“HOLD IT!” Phoenix said, leaving both Trucy and Apollo wide-eyed, and staring at him. “I made way more than that when I was a lawyer.” Apollo sighed.

“The Von Karma law firm is really undercutting the market at the moment.” He said, shoulders falling.

“Von Karma? I thought they were prosecutors.” Phoenix sounded confused.

“Arrrgh! Daddy! Auntie Franzisksa is a prosecutor!” Auntie Franziska...? You’d better hope she never hears you calling her that, Trucy... Phoenix thought. She might kill you if she did.“Her sister Giselle is a defence attorney! Don’t you know anything?” Trucy continued. Apollo and Phoenix exchanged glances. The same thought ran through both men’s heads – A defence attorney, huh? I bet her dad had something to say about that... however, they said nothing. Trucy carried on talking. “What about my wages?” She asked.

“Not a lot.” Replied Apollo shortly. Trucy’s face fell. There was a knock on the door. The teen magician’s whole demeanour changed instantly. She smiled brightly and bounced over to the door.

“Welcome to the Wright Anything Agency, where you’ve always co- oh. Hello, Mr Gavin.”

“Hallo, Fraulein. How are you?” Trucy nodded.

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“Well, the tone of this place is a little lifeless, I’d say. Let’s get the party started, ja?” Apollo looked up from the glowing screen of the laptop.

“We’ve nothing to party about, Klavier.” You glimmerous fop... he added silently. Then he realised that he was beginning to sound like Ema. The young man groaned inwardly. “What are you doing here?” He asked aloud.

“The Fraulein Detectiv sent me to ask to see your copy of the autopsy report.” Klavier seemed annoyed.

“Why?”asked Trucy.

“Because mine got buried under a heap of rubble.” Was the answer she got.

“A heap of rubble?” Asked Apollo, wondering what Klavier had done this time. The prosecutor nodded.

“Ja – the kitchen wall collapsed a week ago.”

“Oh.” Was Apollo’s damp reply.

“Anyway, why the long faces?” Klavier leaned over Apollo’s shoulder, casually taking in the information on the screen. “Ach.” He said, the answer now clear.

“Well, there’s nothing else we can do. You’re going to have to move schools again, Trucy.” Phoenix said, taking his hat out of the dryer.

“What?! No!” Trucy looked shocked. “There must be another way!” She said desperately.

“The only way we could make enough money is change our line of business...” Replied Apollo. Trucy sighed. She was a performer. There wasn’t a lot else she could do at her age, besides waitressing, and she could tell that she’d be no good at that. Phoenix was trying to work out whether Apollo would make a good poker player, and concluded that he would need a little work on hiding his emotions before he would be able to play at all. Apollo got up to find the autopsy report. When he reappeared holding the document, the sight that met him was Klavier sitting with his shoulders shaking with the effort of not laughing. “What’s the joke?” He asked.

“I... just... had... the funniest... idea... ever...” Klavier spluttered.

“What was it?” Asked Trucy in a last ditch attempt at cheering herself up.

“Youthreerunningahotel!” The words came out as a jumbled mess, because Klavier was laughing so hard. The trio had to get him to repeat it a few times before they understood.

“A... a... a hotel.” Said Apollo.

“I don’t see why not...” said Phoenix. “After all, we do need the money. Look at the Gatewater. You never know.” Apollo handed Klavier the paper with strict orders that he was to photocopy it and give it straight back once he was done with it. The rockstar prosecutor then left with a bemused look on his face.

Apollo could see where this was heading, and thought that he’d better get his words in quickly -before it was too late. “Mr Wright. I’m a defence attorney. I can’t work in a hotel! I...I’m not trained!”

“Relax, Apollo. You won’t have to work there all the time. Just when you’re not being a defence attorney.”

“I can’t just STOP being a defence attorney when I feel like it!”

“Why not Polly? You never have a case anyway.” Trucy said, smiling. Gee Trucy, that really helps, Apollomuttered under his breath. He desperately wracked his brains for an idea. Any idea. Any idea that could get him out if this mess. Ah-HA!

“And where are you going to get the money from?” He asked. The Wrights been thinking for a little while when Phoenix remembered that since Grossberg Law Offices closed down, they owned that building. All that needed to happen was some renovation!

Well – this should be interesting to write. But please remember that I’m only KS3 in high school so please remember that the most I’ve done on business is basic management of in ICT... so please correct me where I’ve undoubtedly gone wrong. And as for the Grossberg law offices – hmmm. How convenient.