Disclaimer: Ace Attorney and all characters are copyright by CAPCOM; World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, all incidences and characters were created by Max Brooks. I'm just a fan, imitating. The stories presented are influenced by the multiple games as well as the comic (Manga written by Kenji Kuroda), and the book World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.

This story is set two years following Bridge to the Turnabout (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations) during the height of the Zombie War.

Part 2

Chapter 1

Uninvited

May 15, 2053

Stand Up! SoCal

Southern California Greater Metropolis, California

[Stand Up! SoCal is a bustle of activity this week. This is my first visit since last year, when I first met Phoenix Wright and his friends at Stand Up! SoCal. Most of the excitement surrounding the compound are related to preparations for the 30th Anniversary of the Liberation of California. This will include a dedication of a war memorial commemorating the July 4th Battle of Santa Monica in 2021.

A lot of these guys involved in Stand Up! SoCal fought for California during The Zombie War—in state militias, neighborhood watches, street gangs, the Army…. Phoenix Wright is front and center, a pillar for the citizens of the Southern California Greater Metropolis.

I'd never heard him speak publicly before this.]

Good afternoon, SoCal Greater Metro! It is humbling to be invited up here on this, the thirtieth Anniversary of the Liberation of Southern California, and pay homage to those brave men and women that exemplify the spirit of survival, perseverance, and never say die that makes SoCal my favorite place, and unquestionably worth fighting for.

To talk about the liberation of Southern California, you have to go back to the beginning—to 2020. The year the world ended. In 2019, we saw African Rabies spread in the periphery, in the towns, in the prisons, in schools, and neighborhoods—we saw it close America down. It was hard to believe it could happen, even while it was happening around us.

In other parts of the world, it had started much earlier. Far away and exotic places—Israel, South Africa… Myanmar…. Ku'rain… Too far away to concern us. It was hard enough dealing with the ruin in the wake of the panic here—the idea of war wasn't something any of us were ready to deal with.

In 2020 we learned that war is not going to wait for you to be ready—but only the ready would survive. In the summer of 2020 something happened that no one had expected. They came out of the ocean. They came out in hordes—slow, unyielding, untiring… We were alone and exposed.

The beach heads—Malibu, Santa Monica, Terminal Island—they were ours to defend for the sake of our California. So for the sake of our California, we stood together to stop the hordes…

[Phoenix Wright's speeches have been collected and published by DeStRes Ltd., this excerpt has been included with their permission. It's almost two hours later when I find him alone, in the humble hut he's claimed for him and his wife. He welcomes me like an old friend.]

[Busy?]

[He looks at me and laughs, it's hard to believe this is the same guy stirring the crowd only a couple of hours ago.]

It's a big deal around here. There are similar celebrations around the world, I'm sure—this is ours.

[Looking back on that time, thirty years on—what stands out the most from it?]

To be honest, I don't like thinking about it. The greatest relief is being here thirty years on. Having Maya with me thirty years on. Seeing Trucy with her own children.

Living in hiding during the Panic was one thing—by the time the war got to us, it was enough to wake up alive every morning. But it was a scary time time. I lived in constant fear. Fear for my neighbors and family and friends. Fear for the guys on either side of me, fighting the scourge right there with me.

[He pauses momentarily and frowns.]

I don't think anyone really likes to think about it. And the things that stand out—well… These things aren't usually the kinds of things worth bringing up…

[I was told to ask you about Santa Monica. You lead a regiment on the beachhead in 2021, part of the resistance in Old LA, is that right?]

[His glare is hard enough that I'm worried this may be our last interview. Despite the look, he still smiles.]

Yeah. That happened, more or less.

[I'm sorry, Mister Wright, I don't mean to—]

No. I get it. I understand. You guys are young, you didn't have to live through it. There's an idea that if we look back on the past, if we study the history, that we learn more from that past, that history—those mistakes.

With that being said, I'm sure I don't have to point out that once we began to fight wars on the world stage—the First World War was supposed to end all wars—we kinda never stopped…it happened again. Many times again.

[He shook his head.]

Even in the face of a common enemy—one outside of race or religion or nationality or humanity…. Even in the face of a common enemy it took years for us to get it together. When I think about the liberation of California—manning the beachheads… I'm reminded of the worst of it. Feeling like we were on our own. That we were the only thing that stood between complete and total annihilation of us.

[He smiles again.]

I'm sorry, is that not what you're looking for?

June 23, 2021

Ivy University Compound

Los Angeles, California

It was the closest thing to a family gathering they could muster. Phoenix stood back feeling Trucy's hand in his as Lang paced the floor. He'd been out there, fighting in the hills and the woods… Those dark places where they just seemed to keep coming.

It showed in the lines carved into a face that was too young. The fatigue and the pain of old injuries. But Lang's fire still blazed, he wasn't going to stop. Not until it was over.

"We're seeing them coming in droves out of the suburbs," he was saying, "Doc says it's those families that self-isolated. Just holed up in their houses. He's not a hundred percent sure how it's spreading out there, but in the last couple years we've seen an extended incubation period where someone is infectious, long before there are any symptoms."

Maya met his eye from across the room. It had ravaged Kurain Village bad. She and Pearl had been with them long enough to be deemed safe—a little over two years—but it was frightening to consider how close they'd come.

Lang passed the news on whenever he came back—and he seemed to try and come back regularly, every couple months if he could. No one really understood why—then Franziska got pregnant.

They were going to get married. He wanted to see his baby come into the world. Phoenix shuddered at the thought of bringing a life into this dreary and hopeless new world.

"We had some troubling news from up North as well—Miles is up there, he's a Colonel or something with the Army," Lang continued to pace.

Phoenix scanned the group for Franziska, she was staring at the floor hands wrapped protectively over her extended belly that seemed incongruously large on a frame that was too thin for a pregnant woman. No one had heard from Miles in over a year now—so Lang's casual mention of him was felt in the tight knit group.

"He made sure we were included on the intelligence," Lang continued, "Apparently, they're seeing it in Japan and China and some parts of the Med—Italy and Spain. But the ghouls have started to come up from the ocean."

Lang paused and rubbed his face, the first acknowledgement of just how tired he was after this last tour of duty with whatever militia he was fighting with.

"We're at risk here too… Cruise ships, merchant shipping, the Navy—it's been so long, we believed that all of them that went in the ocean would be taken care of by nature. They're slow, and water—especially the deep ocean—makes for a formidable crossing. But they've been heading for the nearest shores for years now. It's only a matter of time before they're crawling out of the Pacific here…"

Usually these gatherings were sort of pleasant. Lang and the other guys in the militia usually came and went as a group—Klavier and Kristoph, Maggey… It was one of the benefits of the small, locally organized military.

But the new threat to the beaches left Phoenix scared and shaken. He left without a chance to talk to Lang or the other soldiers and made his way back to the small hut he'd scraped together for himself and the girls.

Trucy let go of his hand and walked ahead with Pearl, leaving him alone for Maya. She'd been subdued most of the day, and he'd been busy with the endless scavenging and re-enforcing that he and the few other men that weren't fighting engaged in.

He was exhausted—that was just life now—but the creeping dread of Lang's news weighed heavily on him. He turned when Maya slid her arms around his waist, while his own arm found her shoulders.

"What are you thinking about, Nick?"

"I just…" but he was too shaken to say it aloud. He drew her close instead.

"I'm scared too, Nick," she said.

May 16, 2053

Stand Up! SoCal

Southern California Greater Metropolis, California

[Maya Fey is beautiful. Even her eyes smile when she looks at you. I can see why Phoenix married her…. She greets me like a friend, in the same charming, disarming way she'd done the last time we talked. That was more than a year ago.]

[Long time no see.]

Oh, it's fine…. When you have a few years behind you, they don't seem so long. Nick said you were coming back—for the dedication of the memorial…. I can't believe it's taken this long…

[Why the wait?]

Resources, money… Who knows…. I'm just glad it's finally happening. I know it's a very important project for Nick.

[Is this memorial just for the battle of Santa Monica?]

It's for everyone, really... We lost sixty-three at Santa Monica…. Over four hundred if you count the trek East…. Not to mention the millions upon millions that were lost before they even knew about it…. I really think Nick's doing it for Los Angeles…. Because the city we had is gone. That world is gone…

[And Edgeworth?]

[She looks at me, but balks at the question.] Yeah…. I think there's truth to that too…

January 2, 2022

University Compound

Southern California Greater Metropolis, California

"Miles?"

Miles Edgeworth stood in the doorway with a military duffel hooked on one shoulder. His hair was cropped short in accordance with military regulation, and while Phoenix had always envied his feathery locks, the military fade did more to show away the planes and angles of his still very handsome face.

Miles smiled—rare enough even before Zack had ruined their world—and Phoenix felt his throat close up. He lifted his arms and offered an embrace. He wasn't sure he'd be able to speak.

"Phoenix Wright," Miles mumbled into his ear as they held each other.

Phoenix cleared his throat and stepped back into the house, "Well, get inside stranger."

Miles stepped into the small abode gazing around in open curiosity. Phoenix motioned for him to follow him into a cozy sitting room that doubled as workspace for domestic needs—like yarn making and quilting. Hobbies that had become a necessary part of living in the post-panic world.

"Maya!" Phoenix motioned for him to sit, "Maya, guess who just showed up!"

Phoenix joined him on the sagging sofa—a relic salvaged from the old days—unable to look away from his old friend.

"Wow, Miles," he said running a hand through his spikes, "You made it!"

Miles looked shy despite the tough guy affect being a professional soldier lent him.

"You haven't really changed," Miles said, "A little worse for wear, I think…"

Phoenix beamed at him, "Tell me I look like shit Miles—because I'd rather you were honest."

They laughed together uncomfortably pausing when Maya waddled in. She was eight months pregnant and the cramped space they lived in made it difficult for her to easily join them in the room. Phoenix and Miles both stood to offer her their seats and she laughed gamely as she sidled her way into the room and settled into the sofa.

"Is that your way of telling me I'm gigantic?"

Phoenix kissed her forehead and waved off her comment, "Sit Miles, you're probably tired."

Miles sat reluctantly only to get trapped in Maya's eager embrace, "Oh my God! Look at this guy—Nick! He's even hotter than he used to be! What the heck, Miles!"

Miles actually blushed and glanced over and met his eye as he leaned over so Maya could kiss him on the cheek. Phoenix felt his breath hitch again, he tried to laugh it off, but he was startled by the squealing blurs of Trucy and Pearl.

"Uncle Edgeworth!" It was crowded in the small room and Phoenix was forced to back out further from the room when they rushed in to bury Miles in hugs and affection. Maya had to lean away from them, cradling her belly and laughing.

Phoenix laughed through his tears.

"I didn't know she was pregnant," Miles told him when they were alone, walking across the compound to find Franziska and Shi-Long Lang, "Congratulations."

Phoenix smiled mutely in reply, "I'm just glad you made it—when we didn't hear from you, I figured you weren't coming."

"I wouldn't miss it, Phoenix," those gray eyes met his directly and Phoenix stopped walking.

"Miles…"

Miles took him by the arm and led him toward the nearest building—it happened to be a converted storage shed that they'd reapportioned for grain storage. Miles dragged him into the shade of the squat building and pushed him toward the wall.

"I'm sorry, I haven't written…" Miles said shaking his head.

Phoenix leaned back against the wall and smiled, "Miles… It's okay… It's not as if the pony express is running like it used to…"

Miles looked away from him, turning his head so that Phoenix could only stare at his profile, silhouetted by the mid-day sun. He was quiet for too long.

"Miles, is something wrong?"

Miles turned back to him, shaking his head, and that's when Phoenix noticed his tears.

"Miles…?"

Miles pressed him into the wall and leaned in to kiss him. Phoenix didn't fight him, be he didn't reciprocate either. He could feel the trembling of his lips, his tears wet and warm and all too real dripped onto his face.

Miles backed away from him shaking his head again, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

Phoenix swallowed, all he could do was stare. Miles gave a choking sob, his breath came in trembling spurts. Phoenix was frozen—afraid to move. Miles chuckled awkwardly through his tears.

"What's wrong, Nick? You usually have something to say."

Phoenix swallowed again and looked down at his shoes, "I'm getting married, Miles…"

Miles nodded emphatically, "I know… I'm sorry…"

"Shit, Miles…"

"I thought…" he laughed bitterly, still choked with emotion, "I'd thought I'd show up and you'd take one look at me and…"

He laughed again and stepped away from him. Phoenix raised his head to stare into his stormy gray eyes—he swallowed again, "Miles…"

Miles turned away from him again and dragged his hands and sleeves unceremoniously over his face. Phoenix stared at him, unable to budge from where he stood. He startled when his own tears fell and reach up to stop them with a hand.

A/N: YAASSS! The Zombie war!

Okay, I promise they fight zombies... sorry for the very angsty first chapter...