So, this is the first Phoenix Wright story I'm going to do, and it's mostly going to be a short piece of fluff. It's either going to be a one or two-chapter story. So, we'll see how that goes. I've only played the first three games, so this happens sometime around that.

Phoenix Wright stepped up to Miles Edgeworth's side and looked up at the hundred-story building. He heard a soft sigh next to him, and he couldn't help but share Edgeworth's sentiment. There was a good chance that this lead was a dead end, but Phoenix had made it sound like the owner of this building was definitely the murderer. The judge had ordered that Wright and Edgeworth check out this lead together, so there would be no "misunderstandings" in the courtroom tomorrow.

Edgeworth had been, for lack of a better term, "on edge" the entire trial for some reason, and he wasn't much better on the car ride over here. In fact, he had barely spoken the entire time he drove the both of them to the site. Phoenix wasn't quite sure what his problem was. He was pretty sure that he wasn't the one who had caused Edgeworth's mood.

The building they were looking at right now was rather imposing. One hundred stories exactly, designed with weird spikes on the sides and glass panes to make it look like the building was glaring down them. The first word that popped into Wright's mind when he saw this monstrosity was "impractical." They had heard that the CEO of this corporate building was just as bad as this design.

"I think he might be compensating for something," Phoenix joked, glancing at Edgeworth, who didn't even smile.

"Let's just get this over with," the prosecutor sighed before stalking off towards the building. Phoenix muttered something under his breath and quickly followed him.

The lobby looked to be made entirely out of glass, with a high ceiling and a large crystal chandelier looming over them. A female secretary was sitting behind a desk all the way in the back of the room, filing her nails, with her crossed legs up on the desk. She barely looked up as the two men approached, instead choosing to chomp on her bubble gum.

"Hi," Phoenix greeted her. "We're looking for a Mr. Freddy Rich. Do you know where we can find him, by any chance?"

"Who wants to know?" the secretary asked, concentrating on her nails.

Phoenix swallowed the five comebacks he had ready in his mind and instead gave the more reasonable answer. "Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth," he replied. "Attorneys on a very important case that he might be a witness for."

"We called earlier and set up a meeting," Edgeworth snapped.

"Top floor," the secretary stated promptly. "You can find the elevators over to the right and down the hall." Then she went back to filing her nails. Phoenix let out a sigh and suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.

"Thank you," he replied instead. Then he started off towards the direction the secretary had indicated. He had gone several feet before he suddenly realized that his footsteps were the only ones he could hear. Confused, he turned around to see that Edgeworth was not following him, rooted to the spot where he had been.

"You go on ahead, Wright," Edgeworth called to him. "I think I'll look for the stairs and meet you up there."

"Are you crazy?" Wright asked, walking back over to him. "That would take you all day! And you'd probably die before you reached the top anyway!"

He suddenly realized, now that he was closer, that Edgeworth was as white as a ghost. He was shivering slightly, and he had his arms wrapped tightly around himself. Looking at him made Phoenix remember Edgeworth's crippling fear of elevators. Because of the events where his father was murdered, his friend had been afraid of elevators and earthquakes.

Miles was avoiding eye contact with him, and he looked to be trying hard not to break out into a cold sweat at the mere thought of getting on an elevator. Phoenix couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity for him, though he tried not to let it show on his face.

"Maybe we could have this secretary call up to him and he could meet us down here," Phoenix suggested, turning hopefully to the woman.

The secretary had somehow switched from filing her nails to painting them, and hadn't looked up at all. "Sorry," she replied, not sounding sorry at all. "Mr. Rich is very busy today and doesn't have time to come all the way down here. He insisted that when his visitors arrived, they should come up to his office."

Phoenix flinched, trying not to look at Miles. He could feel his friend stiffen beside him.

"Guess I'm taking the stairs then," Edgeworth muttered under his breath. Phoenix let out a slightly annoyed sigh.

"Come on, Miles," he stated, taking him by the arm. "It won't be that bad. It'll be over in thirty seconds flat. Then we'll be on our way."

Edgeworth was practically dragging his feet as Wright pulled him towards the elevator. He could feel his friend shivering even harder now, but he refused to let go of his arm. Edgeworth would have to face his fears eventually, and it looked like now was the time.

"Can't I just stay here?" Edgeworth asked, still attempting to struggle out of his grip.

"The judge told us that we both had to check this guy out, remember?" Phoenix responded. His friend hissed swear words under his breath, giving up his attempts to try and pull out of his grasp. Phoenix still kept a tight grip on him, just in case it was a ruse.

They made it to the elevators after that with very little incident. It was getting on the elevator that was going to be the tricky part. As they waited for the elevator to arrive, Edgeworth kept trying to walk away, completely forgetting in his nervousness that Wright was still hanging onto his arm. Phoenix would pull him back to his side with an annoyed look on his face as soon as he felt the familiar tug of Edgeworth trying to escape.

Then the elevator finally arrived, and that made hanging onto Edgeworth even harder. When the doors opened, Edgeworth grabbed onto a nearby banister and refused to let go. They had a long, silent and furious tug-of-war, with Wright already half way in the elevator.

Eventually, and I do mean eventually, Wright managed to shove Edgeworth into the elevator and close the door before he could escape. But it took way more effort than it should have, and neither of them looked too happy about the ordeal.

The interior of the elevator was made of some sort of metallic looking surface, with handrails winding around at waist-height. A plush carpet of a deep forest green covered the floor, while the lights were simple strip lights.

The button for the top floor was the largest and flashiest looking. Phoenix pressed it quickly once he got his breath back and positioned himself in a way so that Edgeworth couldn't bolt out the doors. He didn't relax until the doors fully closed and he felt the slight jolt as the elevator began to move.

"This place has been surprisingly empty for a large company," Phoenix commented casually. "There weren't that many people in the lobby."

Edgeworth didn't speak and instead shifted so he could firmly grasp the handrail and stare blankly at the wall. He was looking worse now that he was actually on the elevator. He was breathing heavily and he refused to look at Wright.

"Come on, it's not that bad," Wright sighed, walking over and putting a hand on his shoulder. "The elevator breaking down was a one-time thing. You just happened to be on one when an earthquake struck. It could have happened to anyone."

"That whole thing killed my father," Edgeworth hissed at him, shrugging off his hand. "And it drove an innocent man to murder over it. But I wouldn't expect you to understand any of that. You could never understand."

Wright drew back as though he had been bitten. He was about to say something to defend himself, but there was a sudden lurch and they both staggered.

"What was that?" Edgeworth gasped, panic filling his voice.

"Relax, it's probably just stopping at a floor to let someone on," Phoenix soothed him.

The lights flickered. Then the elevator lurched again.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Miles asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Phoenix didn't answer right away. It didn't feel like an earthquake. What was going on?

The elevator lurched once more, then stopped completely. Edgeworth's grip tightened on the handrail and Wright lost his balance. Then, horrifyingly, the lights went out and the two of them were plunged into darkness.

This is where I'm going to be stopping this, because I think this is a perfect cliffhanger. So yeah, it's going to be two chapters. Stay tuned for the next part, and we'll get to see Miles flip out a bit and Nick try to comfort him. We'll see how well that goes.